All's Fair
by cszimm
Summary: All's fair when it comes to love. My collection of one-shots for KakaSaku Week 2016 on Tumblr. There will be a new theme every day, but all are rated T. Get ready for KakaSaku goodness all week long, and be prepared for anything!
1. Salty (Like a Green Sea of Jealousy)

Salty

(Like a Green Sea of Jealousy)

* * *

The first time Sakura made out with Kakashi, she was not at all surprised when he ran.

They had been a little drunk after a night out with Naruto and Sai, and since they lived in the same general direction it was common for them to walk home together. What was not common was how Kakashi's hand slid dangerously low on her hips as they held each other upright, nor was it normal for him to walk all the way to her door.

And it definitely, certainly wasn't normal for Sakura to boldly drag him down by the collar of his flak vest for a kiss.

To be fair, she wasn't the only one at fault. Kakashi scrambled to pull down his mask (she was mad that in her drunken euphoria she hadn't thought to get a better look at his bare face), and he had thoroughly kissed her back. His hand then returned to her hip and then promptly grabbed her ass, causing a giggle to erupt from Sakura.

The moment was broken, and after one last sloppy kiss, Kakashi stumbled away into the darkness.

So the next morning when Sakura checked in at the Hokage Tower, she stared at the mission board with a flat look as if the man himself was standing in front of her.

Kakashi had suddenly and without notice taken a ten-day courier mission to Grass.

Sakura sighed and walked away with a roll of her eyes. Typical.

* * *

Contrary to her initial conclusion, it seemed Kakashi _did_ have some sort of attraction to her when he was sober. He'd managed to stretch his mission to a full two weeks, but when he came back it was only to drop directly through her open living room window.

He might have had other motivations besides making out with her that evening (the gaping slice on his chest probably having something to do with it), but that's how they ended up nonetheless. Again, Sakura only claimed partial responsibility. It was her duty as a medic to remove his shirt when necessary to gain access to injuries and assess damage. Standard procedure.

But never before had Kakashi's shirtless torso elicited such a primal reaction from her.

She wasn't the only one turned on, either. Kakashi had arrived as Sakura was lounging on her sofa in nothing but a skimpy tank top and pajama shorts, trying to beat the summer heat even though her air conditioning was broken. And as she healed his injuries, Sakura did not miss the way his one good eye darted down to her breasts. Multiple times. And if she had to bet on it, she would say that he'd been watching her ass as she darted away to retrieve her first aid kit upon his arrival.

It wasn't immediately clear who made the first move, but one minute Sakura was leaning over him with one healing hand pressed to his temple as he sat on the couch, and the next she was sitting on his lap. The hand fell away when he drew his mask down and treated her to her first real glimpse of his face.

Her eyes traced his features quickly before falling immediately to his lips, and then his lips were pressed against her own and none of the other details mattered. His tongue chanced an opening into her mouth and his hands made their way around her waist, sliding up and down her back restlessly. Sakura fisted her hands in Kakashi's hair and moaned just a little as their kiss intensified.

Without a conscious though about it, Sakura rolled her hips into Kakashi's. She could feel his hardened erection through his pants, and moaned into his mouth again. He chuckled darkly as he pulled away from her mouth, but his hands stilled as if he had suddenly realized just _who_ was draped over him in such a compromising position.

"Maybe we should quit while we're ahead, hmm?" He kissed her cheek and then her neck in a suggestive but consoling way, then again on her mouth as he gently turned to the side, prompting her to slide away from him.

When his kisses slowed to a few more innocent pecks of his lips against hers, Sakura nodded in agreement. She was disappointed to see him go so soon, if she was being honest with herself, but she refused to show it. If he wanted her, he would be back.

* * *

She just didn't think it would take another month for that to happen. This time at least Kakashi didn't leave the village completely. It was one week before she saw him again, though, and then at first it was only a casual "Yo," as he passed her on the street. When Sakura finally made it to a training session with the rest of the team, he was back to eyeing her up and down when he thought no one was looking.

Thankfully, Naruto and Sai were preoccupied anyway. But Sakura was smugly satisfied to see that Kakashi was still interested. Training that day was exciting—not because she got to make craters in the ground with her fists, and not because she got to throw Naruto across the field—but because Kakashi was flirting with her.

It started with some entirely unnecessary touches to innocent places such as her arm or her calf as he blocked her blows. Then as their spar took them further into the forest—away from prying eyes of their teammates—the touches turned no-so-innocent.

His hold on her arms that pushed out her breasts and let him steal a glance down her shirt could have _maybe_ been called a tactical maneuver.

The way he grabbed her ass after that could not.

And before they could stop themselves, the spar devolved into a make-out session right there in the forest. Sakura was pressed up against Kakashi's chest, on her tiptoes as his strong arms held her to him. She didn't know when his mask had disappeared but his lips were soft and tasted slightly tangy with sweat. When she felt the stirring hardness in his pants she hooked her leg around his hip. The slight quirk of his lips into a grin against her mouth in response made her heart flutter embarrassingly.

But she should have known that the training grounds were not a good place for a tryst, because a second later Naruto's cry of _"Sai, you basataaaard!"_ rang through the woods.

And Kakashi disappeared with a poof of smoke and a swirl of leaves, leaving Sakura off balance and to fall flat on her ass.

* * *

This time Kakashi's disappearing act was more permanent. When they were able to coordinate their schedules for team training, Kakashi suddenly had missions come up at the last minute. When they planned a team dinner at Ichiraku, Kakashi made excuses to Naruto about needing to wash his hair.

It was getting ridiculous.

He couldn't just _kiss her_ and make it so clear that he _wanted her_ and then just avoid her for weeks on end!

It wasn't like she was some love-struck little girl. She wouldn't sit here and pine after a guy because he was acting like an idiot. She just wanted some answers, because she had no patience for games.

There was a reason she was a Jonin now. Her main skills might primarily be in medical ninjutsu and melee combat, but that didn't mean she wasn't also competent in other areas like stealth and tracking. Still, finding and then sneaking up on the Copy-Ninja was no small feat.

Luckily for Sakura, she knew Kakashi's regular haunts and his not-so-regular haunts. His lessons on looking _underneath the underneath_ led her to deduce that he would assume she would check the not-so-regular places first, and that she should actually check his regular places. Hiding in plain sight, so to speak. But then, he would expect her to do that, and would choose a not-so-regular spot after all.

And she was right. She conned Sai into scouting with some ink-animals (hey, work smarter, not harder) and found Kakashi lounging at the base of a large willow tree deep in the woods outside of Konoha.

Approaching him would be a bit trickier. He was clearly avoiding her, and if she simply walked up to him and gave him time to sense her presence he was likely to disappear again.

Stupid, cowardly man. Why did she like him again? Oh yeah, his kisses did funny things to her ability to think clearly, but were _so worth it._

Logically it made sense to take him by surprise. An aerial approach was out of the question; the willow branches were too springy to hold her weight without giving away her location, with the long sweeping branches hanging in Kakashi's peripheral vision. Which left her to approach him from underground. She found it quite humorous that she would use a jutsu he had taught her (in preparation for her Jonin exam last year) to get the better of him.

She had to give him a _little_ credit, because he probably still sensed her coming and didn't immediately run away again. In fact, he seemed not at all surprised to see her when she erupted from the ground in front if him, and politely closed his book while she brushed the dirt from her clothes. He was expecting her after all.

"Kakashi," she greeted with what even Sai would recognize as a fake smile.

"Sakura," he returned with his equally fake eye crinkle.

"It's not very polite to make a girl resort to jutsu just to get you to talk to her."

"Who says I wouldn't have even without the jutsu?"

His light and dry tone grated on her. Time to quit beating around the bush; they both knew why she was here, and though he wasn't running away it was clear he wasn't going to give her an inch. At least not without a metaphorical shove in the right direction.

She stood in front of him, one hip cocked to the side and her arms crossed defiantly, while he remained seated comfortably and looking up at her innocently.

"Okay look," she said, dropping the act. "I don't play games, Kakashi, but you're just so hot-and-cold—don't you dare make a joke about being hot. Are we or aren't we…something? I mean I'm not asking you to marry me or anything. I'd just like to know if we're exclusive so I don't look like a moron when you get caught screwing the Daimyo's cousin."

"Hey—how'd you know about that? That was still when you were a Gen—"

"Doesn't matter," she interrupted, refusing to let him steer her off track.

"Fucking Yamanakas…" he muttered under his breath as he looked away in what could only be a pout below that stupid mask. She _almost_ cracked a smile, but resisted.

" _Anyway,"_ she continued with emphasis, "Like I was saying, I like you. I like making out with you…and I'd like to do more than that." She refused to blush, and was proud of herself when she didn't. "But I'm not some lovesick girl who's going to chase you around waiting for you to get your head out of your ass. I'm just asking if you would like this to be something more or not. I'd like a relationship, but given your disappearing act after I stick my tongue down your throat, I'm getting the feeling that's not what you want."

Sakura went quiet then, having said her piece, but didn't back down. She deserved an answer and she would stand here until she got one.

Kakashi's demeanor had changed, and far from acting for her, he was now making no effort to hide his uneasiness. One hand rubbed the back of his neck nervously and he was avoiding looking at her, even as he began to speak.

"It's not…I just don't think you can understand, Sakura. I just…"

She assumed he would finish his sentence, but when his pause stretched on to become and awkward silence she narrowed her eyes and gave him a flat look. "…Can't?" she finished for him.

He sighed and had the decency to look back at her with a silent apology evident in his one eye.

Sakura held his gaze and he looked away again. She debated on questioning him further, on forcing him to elaborate on why he didn't want to be in a relationship with her. Was she too young? Was she a bad kisser? Was she not pretty enough?

She sighed also, squashing those thoughts. She was not an insecure little girl anymore; she was a confident woman and knew those issues were not the real problem here. She could only guess at Kakashi's insecurities, but she knew that anything barring him from the ability to have a relationship were his problems, not hers. She couldn't help him with those problems if he couldn't even articulate them to her, and forcing him to do so would not end well.

If she had any hope of salvaging what was left of their friendship, Sakura knew she had to accept defeat and let this go. Give him the space he wanted, and shove her fledgling feelings aside for the sake of their team. She could do that.

"I understand," she said quietly with a nod. "Thank you for hearing me out, Kakashi."

She turned to walk away even before she finished her sentence, to spare him from needing to form a reply. It was tempting to turn back and look at him one last time—the small part of her that hoped he would stop her from leaving—but she didn't, and neither did he.

* * *

Kakashi was grateful that Sakura had let him off the hook so easily. Sure, he was attracted to her—she had grown into a powerful and beautiful kunoichi, someone that, if Kakashi had to choose, he would deem _his type_. But regardless of their compatibility (and how well she kissed and—ahhh fuck he really needed to stop thinking that way), if she wanted a relationship, he couldn't give that to her.

He would have been perfectly happy to keep with the status quo and see where things went in a very casual, physical sense, but she wanted more than that and Kakashi didn't. It was probably fortunate for him that she had the guts to speak up about her feelings before they got in too deep and she got hurt. As it was, Kakashi felt a small amount of guilt already for the look of disappointment that had flitted across her face before she hid it behind a mask of annoyance and indifference.

He really should have been more careful before acting on his impulse to kiss her in the first place.

Cursing his rare stupidity, Kakashi resolved to continue to put some distance between them for a while. He could make himself scarce from trainings and gatherings if he knew Sakura was going to be there. Baiting Gai into challenges if he needed a sparring partner was always an option, after all. It wasn't like Sakura, Naruto, and Sai really needed Kakashi anyway—they were all Jonin (and ANBU, in Sai's case) and could spar with whomever they wished. Their old training patterns were simply a habit that persisted because they had stayed close for so long.

And now Kakashi had gone and fucked that right up. Great.

* * *

It was easier to avoid Sakura than he anticipated because she disappeared on a long mission for about six weeks. Kakashi pretended it was only out of interest in their training schedules when he inquired to Tsunade about where she had gone and when she would be back. It was certainly not because a very small part of him was disappointed and a little jilted that she'd run away. Nope. Definitely not—because if that part existed it was immediately shoved into a deep, closed corner of his brain right next to the cynical voice of reason telling him he was being a hypocrite.

So really, he just needed to know when he could plan on integrating Sakura back into the training schedule. For teamwork. And stuff.

It happened that she was in Cloud receiving extra medical training. Kakashi had no idea and almost regretted asking Tsunade about it when he got the long-winded version.

Apparently, being a field medic only qualified you to perform advanced first aid and nursing services at the hospital. If Sakura wanted to perform surgeries and be considered a doctor, she had to go for additional training. Which, now that all of the villages were in alliance, involved rotations at hospitals in each of the other villages. And then she had to write about it. A lot.

It sounded awful to Kakashi, but then his medical knowledge had more to do with how to most effectively sever arteries than to fix them.

When Sakura did eventually return to Konoha, it was easier for them to pick up where they had left off. Sakura, to her credit, treated him no differently than she ever had before. Thank Kami for that because he had been worried it would be awkward between them.

But their "normal" still brought them close—he still lived in the same direction as her, and so still ended up walking her home by pure circumstance. Their normal watch schedules on missions still stood, with Sakura and Kakashi taking back-to-back watches. Which, in turn, traditionally resulted in long talks next to a fire while Naruto and Sai slept. Before Sakura had, as she had so elegantly put it, _stuck her tongue down his throat_ , such conversations had been a welcome treat. Now, Kakashi wasn't sure if it was more awkward to chance an intimate discussion or to buck tradition by ignoring her and going straight to sleep. And those walks home? Twice he'd had to stop himself from letting his arm fall around her waist and once from pulling her into a kiss because he knew in his gut she wouldn't resist.

It was a tricky situation, and Sakura was not so easy to forget as he had hoped, but he wanted to respect her wishes. Kakashi respected Sakura as a teammate and as a friend, and to continue to pursue her when he could not do so under the terms she laid out would be disrespectful and unfair. So when she again disappeared for another six weeks—this time to Suna—Kakashi was once again grateful for a little space. And when she finally returned, things finally felt normal again to his immense relief.

* * *

Team Kakashi was back at full fighting strength within weeks. A few B rank missions happened their way in quick succession, and Kakashi thought any lingering awkwardness with Sakura had evaporated.

That is, until one of these (supposedly easy and uncomplicated) missions brought them into Lightening territory and they ran into some Cloud ninja.

Even in times of peace and even with an international alliance, shinobi were by nature distrustful of other ninja. So Kakashi wasn't surprised when the leader of the Cloud squad—blonde and arrogant and vaguely familiar—immediately brandished a kunai at him, but he _was_ a bit perturbed. Which meant he wasn't going to cooperate any more than he had to.

He was just about to taunt the blonde prettyboy with a clever retort about comparing the size of their sharp toys, when suddenly Sakura piped up from behind him.

"C?" She called tentatively.

Prettyboy lowered his kunai and perked up a bit at that. "Sakura?"

Sakura stepped forward with a harsh glance in Kakashi's direction—probably her way of telling him to _stand the fuck down_. At Prettyboy's signal, the Cloud ninja stowed their kunai once more.

Wait a second—wasn't he the team captain? Since when did Sakura give the orders? Irritating woman, always being right.

"Hey C, how are you?"

Prettyboy's demeanor instantly changed as he stepped forward to greet Sakura in the most ridiculous way, bending down on one knee in front of her and _kissing her hand_.

"Ah, my Leaf princess! To what do I owe this great pleasure?"

If Kakashi didn't already hate him, he did now.

Sakura blushed, but she also rolled her eyes. Good. At least she wasn't—

A nervous giggle left her mouth as she replied shyly, "We're on a mission, C, so none of your business."

—flirting back.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted as he strutted up next to her, eyeing C with suspicion. "Who the hell is this guy and why is he kissing your hand?"

Kakashi never liked it when Naruto acted like an obtuse idiot. Except for now, when all Kakashi felt like doing was crossing his arms, pouting, and agreeing with Naruto's question. _Yeah, who the hell is this guy and why the fuck is he kissing your hand?_

In a similar fashion, Sakura also had little tolerance for Naruto's outbursts, and she promptly smacked him upside the head. With the hand _not_ being held by Prettyboy, Kakashi noted with a scowl.

"Naruto! This is C, the Raikage's right hand man! Show some respect."

Prettyboy—because what kind of name was _C_ anyway—interjected with a cool smile as he stood next to Sakura. "Actually, we've met before, Naruto, at the Five Kage Summit before the war."

"Oh! Right—nice to see you again."

Naruto had the decency to look a little embarrassed, and fell quiet.

Kakashi controlled himself as he observed Sakura converse animatedly with Prettyboy—no, _C_. Always good to remember the names of your rivals. Err, enemies. It was disconcerting how at ease she seemed with this guy. He kissed her hand like some creep and she hadn't punched him for it. And now as they stood together—much too close, in Kakashi's professional opinion—her head tilted back as she laughed and oh Kami did he just rub the small of her back…and did she just give him a flirty smile in return?

What was this? Was Kakashi…was Kakashi jealous? Of this arrogant, Cloud prettyboy ninja who didn't deserve to breathe the same air as Sakura?

Well, fuck.

Sai, in a misguided attempt to _help_ , approached Kakashi then.

"I believe this is the doctor that Sakura was prattling on about to Ino the other night."

Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow to Sai, prompting him to elaborate on that piece of vital information.

"I believe Sakura met him when she did her medical study rotation in Cloud a few months ago. He was her superior. From what I understand, they have been exchanging letters."

Well, that was awfully convenient. Just as Kakashi had spurned her advances she'd gone right off to Cloud only to land in this guy's lap—and that had _better_ be just a figure of speech because Kakashi was not above provoking Naruto into a fistfight by letting slip that Prettyboy had deflowered their beloved cherry blossom. Well, more like their beloved _ass-kicking, will-string-us-up-by-the-balls-if-she-ever-heard-any-of-us-call-her-that_ cherry blossom. Sakura was pretty, yes, but delicate? No. She'd just be pissed that they felt the need to hypothetically defend her honor like she couldn't do it herself.

 _We're on a mission_ , Kakashi reminded himself forcefully as he took a deep calming breath.

"Naruto! Sakura! We're on a time crunch! Let's move out," he called to his team. If they continued standing here Kakashi was increasingly likely to say or do something he would later regret. It was quite sad when even Naruto stood less of a chance of inciting an international incident.

"We're actually ahead of schedule," Sai piped up quietly next to him, "And I'm also confused as to why you are suddenly concerned with being on ti—"

Kakashi glared at the pale man, and Sai immediately silenced himself. Sai always was a smart one when it came to avoiding bodily harm from his teammates.

Mercifully, Naruto and Sakura were saying their goodbyes and turning away from the Cloud ninja.

"Wait!" Kakashi heard the prettyboy yell suddenly. He turned to look back at them and grit his teeth as, sure enough, C had his arm on Sakura's, keeping her from walking away.

"You actually saved me a bit of trouble," Prettyboy said as he pulled a thick sheaf of papers from his pack and handed it to Sakura. "I was going to mail this to you in the next village."

The way Sakura's face immediately lit up in recognition annoyed Kakashi, and he absolutely _hated_ it when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"You're finished! Thank you so much, C!"

"It was no problem," Prettyboy replied with a smooth smile. "I was quite impressed overall. You'll make a wonderful surgeon, Sakura."

She blushed again, much to Kakashi's chagrin, before thanking him one more time and _finally_ turning back to her teammates.

The Cloud ninja made a quick exit at C's command, leaving the Leaf shinobi alone at last. As Sai had said they really were ahead of schedule, so Kakashi tried not to be annoyed when instead of moving Sakura planted her feet and began flipping through the papers.

Naruto, at ease now that C had left, came up behind Sakura and looked over her shoulder. "What the hell is that?" he asked, confused.

"It's my dissertation!" Sakura replied happily.

"Dessert…what?"

"Dissertation. My final evaluation before I can become a licensed doctor and perform surgeries at the hospital. I've been working on it for almost two years and C has been editing it for me as I write the final draft."

Her explanation left Kakashi feeling a little defeated. Knowledge of medical ninjutsu was not something he could compete with; Prettyboy actually had something on the Copy-Ninja. It was a strange feeling and Kakashi did _not_ like it at all.

Sakura was still flipping through the research paper when suddenly three pressed flowers—and a _sealed letter_ —fell to the ground from between the pages. She blushed furiously and quickly bent to pick them up and put them gently into her pack.

"Hehe, Sakura-chan, what else have you been up to with this guy? Did you guys play _doctor_ —ow! Sai, you bastard, what was that for?

"Stop being a pervert, dickless."

"I am not dickless!"

For once, Kakashi was grateful for the bickering as it provided the perfect distraction; he'd have to find a way to thank Sai for that later. He didn't look at any of them when he started walking away, knowing they would follow if they didn't want to get left behind.

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of the mission was over quickly and they returned home without incident, because all Sakura could focus on was her dissertation and the unexpected gift from C. She blushed as she read the letter through for what was probably the twentieth time—it was a short, poetic note about how much he missed her and hoped to see her again soon. In the privacy of her home once more she studied the lines and loops of his handwriting, especially where he'd written her name, and bit her lip with a girlish squeal.

Nothing had actually happened between them in Cloud; with C being her direct superior and Sakura being there on official village business, they had deemed it inappropriate. But that didn't stop them from sharing evening meals together nearly every day or stop C from flirting with her off the clock.

If given the chance, Sakura might be tempted to engage in something with C, but she knew the chances were slim and she had no desire to maintain such a long distance relationship. She would let herself exchange flirty letters until they grew bored of each other, but Sakura knew it wasn't really going to go anywhere else from there. C would go right next to Kakashi on the list of "men she would date if only things were different."

A few days later Sakura happily dressed up for a night out with her teammates and their friends. The skirt was still long for Ino's standards, but it was plenty short for Sakura, and the low cut of the neckline made up for it anyway. It was rare for Sakura to arrive last, since Kakashi took pride in being the last to arrive and the first to leave, but by chance it seemed he had for once beaten her there. She easily took the open seat next to him, across from Sai and Naruto.

The evening was filled with their typical antics—Naruto the loud obnoxious drunk, Sai the amusingly talkative one, Sakura the giggly one, and Kakashi the quiet one. But after a couple of hours a waitress brought over a vodka cocktail that Sakura didn't order and placed it in front of her.

"From the gentleman," the waitress said with a nod to a man a few tables away. Sakura followed her gaze and blushed when she made eye contact with a man in Jonin fatigues at a table full of his buddies, and nodded her thanks.

But when she turned back to the table, the drink was gone. Confused, she looked around just as Kakashi spoke.

"Miss?" he called to get the attention of the waitress, "She'll have a bottle of sake instead, please."

Sakura's look of confusion turned into a scowl, and then Kakashi had the gall to lay an arm across her shoulders.

"What the hell, Kakashi?" Sakura accused as she shoved his arm away.

"It's not the drink you like," he replied easily, not at all perturbed by her rejection.

"That's not the point! You can't just send it away and you can't act like that!"

"You can't just accept drinks from strangers, Sakura."

He was being ridiculous, and Sakura realized there was more to this. He'd been acting weird all the way home from Lightening Country the other day and now he was being all possessive and— _oh_.

So that's how it was, huh? If Kakashi can't have her then no one else could either? That stupid, pigheaded man.

And yet—there was a small (ridiculous, immature, and _annoying_ ) part of her that was oddly flattered. Kakashi was _jealous_. He still wanted her after all this time, and after her exchange with C this must have been the last straw.

But, she reminded herself sternly, if he wanted her then he could be a normal, mature adult about it instead of acting like a jealous brat. Seriously, which one of them was thirty-four years old, again?

Her pleasant buzz gone with her dizzying thoughts, Sakura stood suddenly and turned to address Kakashi one last time.

"I can accept drinks or thoughtful gifts or kisses from whoever I want, Kakashi, because I don't _have_ a boyfriend."

Before leaving, Sakura made sure the waitress sent the bottle of sake to the nameless Jonin at the other table.

* * *

Kakashi should have known better. He really, really should have. Now Sakura was mad at him and she knew he was jealous, which meant she knew he was still interested in her. There went all of his hard work getting their team back to normal.

And of course he was now sitting at a table across from a dangerously quiet Sai and a scowling Naruto.

"I don't know what you did, Kaka-sensei. But you better fix it," Naruto stated.

Kakashi simply groaned and let his suddenly heavy head fall to the tabletop.

The next morning came late and with a headache, as Kakashi had continued to drink more than normal before stumbling home the night before. He felt marginally better after choking down some toast and water, chased by painkillers and a shower. Mercifully his schedule was clear, but that also meant he had too much time to let his thoughts wander.

And wander they did. To Sakura.

He tried everything—reading _Icha Icha_ , aimlessly wandering the village, seeing how many times he could ask Tsunade if she had any missions for him since the last time he saw her an hour ago—and still he could not shake his thoughts of Sakura.

The only real conclusion Kakashi had been able to come to was that he was in trouble.

He really liked Sakura. _Really_. He liked the way she dressed, he like her hair, he liked her laugh, and he really liked the way she laughed at _him_ , and it was only too easy to close his eyes and remember how she had felt perched on his lap as he kissed her thoroughly. And the way her waist felt under his hands, and the way she arched when he grabbed her ass—he should really quit that train of thought if he did not want to take a second, very cold shower.

Forget trouble. This was a fucking disaster.

How could he have been such a colossal idiot?

This woman—beautiful, smart, powerful—wanted to do all the things with him that he wanted to do with her, and all he needed to do was agree not to do those things with anyone else. And he had turned her down? For what? Out of some delusional thought that distance would make him immune to his own feelings?

And now that stupid Cloud prettyboy was sending Sakura flowers and writing her letters and she was receiving drinks from stupid, hotshot ninja that didn't know the first thing about her—

Fuck. He was in deep shit, and he needed to fix it.

Kakashi was pretty sure this was called dating. He wanted to _date_ Sakura. And that meant things like dinner and flowers and holding hands in the street. He understood the logistics, but it felt so foreign to him. Kakashi did passion and sex, not chintzy romance. But he supposed there had to be a first time for everything.

* * *

After the disastrous night at the bar, Sakura figured another round of awkward avoidance was in order. So she holed up inside, relaxing by doing her nails and indulging in some trashy romance novels. (Although not _Icha Icha_ ; she preferred smut _not_ written by an old pervert that she had known personally, thank-you-very-much.)

Sakura was puzzled when early that evening there was a tentative knock on her door, abandoning the book on her bed to go answer it. Naruto or Ino would have pounded down the door while shouting at her, and Sai was more likely to simply come in through an open window, so it couldn't have been any of them.

So it was easy to say that she was quite surprised when she opened the door to find none other than the Copy Ninja slouched on the threshold.

"Kakashi?" she said for lack of a better greeting, not sure if she should still be mad at him for last night or happy that he had apparently matured by a decade just by showing up.

She must have been sufficiently non-threatening, because Kakashi stepped forward and raised a hand to offer her a small, haphazard little bouquet of flowers that looked suspiciously like the blooms that grew in his neighbor's flowerbox. As she took them from him with a wry smile, he surprised her again by leaning down and placing a small, chaste and slightly awkward kiss on her cheek.

"Hi, Sakura," he said nervously as he straightened up.

She was absolutely mortified to feel the heat of a blush on her cheeks. "What…are you doing here?" she questioned, doing her best to act like she was still mad and was _not_ in danger of melting into a pile of goo on her doorstep.

"I'm sorry about last night," he rushed, "and I wanted to know if I could make it up to you by taking you out to dinner. On a date. With me. Tonight."

 _Smooth, Hatake_ , Sakura thought with amusement.

Well then. It seemed that Kakashi had a romantic bone in his body after all. Maybe, if it wasn't the one in his pants. Just how long was he going to keep this charade up? She supposed it was at least worth finding out.

"Dinner tonight would be great," she accepted with a smile. "Just let me get ready."

She stepped aside to let him in and closed the door behind him, letting him make his way to the couch as she put the flowers in a glass of water on her table and then went straight to her bedroom.

She had no "getting ready" to do, of course. Kakashi was in his regular uniform and she doubted they would be going anywhere fancier than Yakiniku Q. But if Kakashi was going to play at being romantic then she would treat him to the full experience.

While she let the minutes tick by, Sakura picked up the romance novel she had abandoned a few minutes prior. Maybe she could get through this chapter before dinner. She had only made it about six pages, though, before Kakashi called to her tentatively from the other room.

"Sakura? What are you doing…are you ready to go?"

"No!" she called immediately. "I have to make you wait. The girl always has to make the guy wait in order not to seem too eager."

"But…you're just sitting in there. I can see you reading."

Did the Sharingan see through walls now or something? She hadn't even left the door open—oh. Whoops. Oh well, he could sweat a little while longer, treat her to dinner, and then maybe if he managed all of that and played his cards right she might agree to a second date.

"Get over it! We're being romantic. You can wait five more minutes; go read your porn."

There was a pause that caused Sakura to look up from her book, only to see Kakashi rubbing the back of his neck anxiously on the couch.

"I, uh, didn't bring it…"

More than anything else thus far, that got Sakura's attention. He brought that damn book with him when they went to fight in a freaking _war_. And he hadn't brought it with him to go on a date with her?

She bolted suddenly from her bed and braced herself on her bedroom doorway.

"Holy shit, you're serious about this, aren't you?" she marveled in disbelief.

Sakura had resisted melting into a puddle of goo when he brought her flowers and kissed her on the cheek. The lack of porn on his person was astonishing and testament to his willingness to do this her way. But the smile he gave her as he pulled down his mask completely disarmed her. Although she'd seen his face and kissed his lips before, the charming, roguish smile on his face was new to her.

"I might be an idiot, but I do _eventually_ realize when I've made a colossal mistake," he joked in reply.

Unable to resist the draw of his handsome face, Sakura walked over to where he was seated on the couch and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"Stupid man," she said as she lowered her mouth to his.

She might have been imaging it, but the fourth time Sakura made out with Kakashi seemed better than any of the others. He hauled her into his lap almost immediately, with her legs straddling his hips provocatively. When a few minutes later his hand started to creep up underneath her shirt, she slapped it away.

"Ah ah ah, dinner first," she teased. "We're being _romantic_."

It was quite amusing to see the Copy Ninja _pout_.

"Fine, but that means I get to give dirty looks to anybody who tries to hit on you."

She rolled her eyes. Typical Alpha male.

"No, that means you get to pay for dinner."

"Well that was plan B, if the flowers didn't work—ow, hey!"

"You deserved that," she said with a grin as she climbed off of his lap. "Now let's go. And don't worry about dessert, I have some here."

He looked mildly surprised at that. "Really? I didn't see any when I was snooping in your fridge a little while ago—"

"—It's in my bedroom."

The expression on his face as realization dawned on him was comical, and before she could stop him he had grabbed her hand and was leading her giggling out the door.

* * *

A/N: For most of the prompts I'm going with a more liberal interpretation, so hopefully you enjoy them! I'll be posting another one-shot every day this week except Thursday, so don't forget to hit the "follow" button for more KakaSaku goodness! Thanks for reading!


	2. Fairy Tales (Knight in Shining Armor)

Fairy Tales

(Knight in Shining Armor)

* * *

The hot summer sun filtered down through the trees onto Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai as they stood on top of a rickety red bridge, scuffing their boots on the wooden planks and idling away the minutes while they waited for Naruto. Well, _Sakura_ scuffed her boots; Sai sketched and Kakashi slouched against a wooden post reading. Naruto was not exactly known for his punctuality, but it was certainly rare for _Kakashi_ to beat him to their mission-meeting place.

Sakura sighed. She supposed Naruto's delay was because it was his turn to pick up their standard-issue provisions from the mission desk. He'd probably forgotten about it until he was on his way out the door. Again.

She glanced over at Kakashi again out of sheer boredom, but did a double take. That wasn't _Icha Icha_ in his hand…what had caught his attention that he'd left his beloved porn at home?

For lack of anything better to do, Sakura sauntered over and asked, "What'cha reading?" in the most childish, purposefully annoying singsong that she could muster. Kakashi merely raised the book higher in front of his face, either to show her the cover or better to ignore her she wasn't sure. Probably both.

But Sakura got the answer to her question anyway; it was a book of fairy tales much like the one she remembered her mother reading to her as a child.

"Fairy tales? Why on earth are you reading those, Kakashi?"

"I like fantasy," he answered shortly, sparing her a brief glance.

"Right," she sneered. "The only fantasy _you_ like is porn disguised as romance."

Finally he took the bait, marking his page with a finger as he lowered the book and crossed his arms defensively, settling in for another iteration of their regular debate.

"First of all, there's a lot more to _Icha Icha_ than just porn romance—"

"—So you admit there's porn."

"Well yes, why else would I read it so often—"

"Eww, I do not need to know what you do with your free time—"

"—But there's also political satire and a surprising amount of character development."

She gave him a flat look.

"Uh huh. So if _Icha Icha_ is so great, why trade your 'adult novels' for a book of kid's stories?"

"Because sometimes you can learn a lot from these _kid's stories_. You have to look _underneath the underneath."_

Of course he would turn this into a lesson somehow. After a hard stare Sakura gave up, too hot and annoyed to continue this line of conversation. Somehow he always managed to win, anyway.

"You're getting as bad as Gai when it comes to this 'everything has a lesson in it' crap, you know."

Kakashi gave an uncaring shrug. "As long as Gai still wears that hideous jumpsuit I'll still be cooler than him."

Glad they were all clear on what made someone cool.

They finally heard Naruto scurrying up the path to the bridge, shouting his apologies before they could even make out the words clearly.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Naruto pleaded one more time as he made his way panting to their little group. "I just really wanted to try this cool trick that Hinata showed me, where you put fruit in your water to make it taste better. I guess I lost track of time trying to figure out which kind to put in because I only had—"

"Save it, Naruto," Sakura groused as she snagged a canteen dangling from Naruto's arm and immediately took a sip. She'd have to ask him later what kind of fruit he'd put in the water because it did taste wonderful—just not when her temper was short and they were already two hours behind schedule.

The team set off at a run at Kakashi's signal in an attempt to make up for lost time. They were to deliver some trade documents to a small, obscure country to the north that Sakura had never even heard of. Apparently the country's trade was mining; they were also quite old fashioned and insisted that messenger hawks couldn't be trusted. So, Team Kakashi had been charged with delivery of the trade agreement with Konoha.

Sakura pondered just what kind of archaic place they must be on their way to and lost her concentration. That was the only explanation she could come up with as to why a kunoichi of her caliber tripped and promptly fell into a large hole, not five minutes into their journey.

And it was a _very_ large hole. She fell for several seconds, expecting to hit the bottom at any time, but just kept falling.

And falling.

This wasn't natural. A genjutsu?

"Kai!" she shouted with a reflexive hand sign.

But it was to no avail; there was no end yet in sight to her predicament. She scrambled to grab one side of the hole around her to slow her fall, even pulling out a kunai and digging it into the earth for leverage. Finally the kunai provided some resistance and the earth seemed to slope beneath her into a large, rounded slide. It was growing brighter, too—she must be nearing the end.

When finally Sakura tumbled out of the slide and into a room, it was with an ungraceful summersault which she would claim was _completely on purpose_ if Kakashi happened to be standing there when she finally regained her balance. Thankfully, he was not. However that wasn't necessarily comforting; the room in which she sat in the center of the floor was quite bare and cold. In fact, as she looked around she couldn't even see that mysterious earthen slide that had deposited her here.

Round with walls made of stone and a wooden floor, the room had no door, only a single narrow window. A broom propped up against the wall was the only item she could see.

A muffled call of _"Sakura!"_ reached her ears then. Kakashi! He would know what the hell was going on here. But where was he?

" _Sakura!"_ the call came again—from outside!

Sakura scrambled to the open window, blinking to adjust to the bright sunlight. She expected that he would be coming up a path towards her, based on how far away he sounded. But all she could see was _sky_. Bewildered, Sakura snapped her head left and right, only to see more sweeping blue. With nowhere else to look, Sakura warily lowered her eyes to look below her, and yelped in surprise.

Her little room was in a tall tower, high above the treetops. Sakura had no idea where she was—that damn hole-turned-slide must have taken her miles from Konoha. She had no knowledge of a tower this tall anywhere. When she focused on the ground below, she could make out Kakashi as a small dot, the sunlight glinting off of his silver hair.

"Kakashi?" she shouted down to him.

"Sakura, let down your hair!" he called back.

…What?

When she didn't reply he must have found the need to repeat himself.

"Sakura, let down you hair so I can climb up!"

Well that made even _less_ sense!

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sakura yelled. "Just use your chakra and _walk_ up here!"

There was a slight shimmer and she supposed he was shaking his head no. "It won't work! I need to climb up!"

Well, fine. She had no idea what would cause Kakashi's chakra not to work, but there was still the problem of _how_ to grow her hair.

Her hesitance must have been evident, and Kakashi must have been a mind reader. "Use the jutsu!" he shouted like _she_ was the one being ridiculous.

"You idiot, there's no _hair-growing_ jutsu!" But even as she was shouting down at him, Sakura's hands were moving through a series of signs that she had no memory of learning, and then she was tugging on her hair and—oh, would you look at that… _it was growing_.

Good to know that _she_ could still use her chakra at least.

With an odd mixture of fascination and repulsion, Sakura tugged at her hair as it flowed freely from her scalp, leaning over the open window to feed it down to her waiting teammate. It took several minutes, but soon she had created a long, flowing curtain of pink strands. Kakashi stepped forward as she watched from above and wrapped his hand around it like a rope, tugging to test its strength. Sure enough, Sakura's hair held firm. She grasped it from her end as well, to anchor it with her chakra-enhanced strength.

Shinobi were generally strong and agile, so it wasn't surprising when Kakashi was able to quickly climb up to her window. She hauled him through the opening and hugged him when he was finally standing next to her.

"Kakashi! What the hell is going on here? Are you okay? Why couldn't you use your chakra?"

The questions came in rapid fire, but he looked at her strangely.

"We always meet here. And _no one_ can use chakra to climb up. It's why we like this place so much."

His voice was lower, darker and suddenly Sakura was aware of just how he hadn't let her go yet and how nice it felt to be in his arms.

Huh. That was new.

But as she glanced out the window again, a giant bird drawn from ink was making its was to their tower—one of Sai's creations. Kakashi's mask moved in a way that made it look like he was frowning, or maybe pouting.

"Damn," he muttered with disappointment. "Ran out of time. Come on; let's go meet the boys. We have important documents to deliver, remember?"

Kakashi started to climb back through the window—the ink bird was hovering just below, waiting for them to climb on—when Sakura realized something.

"Wait just a minute!" she pleaded.

Pulling her long hair up from the window, Sakura coiled it neatly near one of the walls before drawing a kunai from her pouch again. With a sharp flick of her wrist she was able to shear off the heavy strands. Ino would probably have to fix it again, but that was a small matter.

Kakashi eyed her warily and she shrugged. "Might as well save it for next time."

It made her smile when he ran his fingers affectionately through her now-short hair, and then offered her a hand.

"Your stead, milady."

Giggling, Sakura accepted the hand and climbed onto the ink bird, Kakashi following. The bird took off as soon as they were both seated, and Sakura thrilled at Kakashi's arms around her waist.

They flew for a long time, but it was hard to judge the distance from this height. The bird seemed to know where they were going, though, so Sakura didn't question it. They touched down just outside of a bustling village, where a long line of women seemed to wrap through the streets.

As they entered, they caught sight of Sai, who trotted over to meet them.

"I do apologize for the delay, but I seem to have inadvertently gotten involved in trying to solve a problem this village is having. The local Daimyo has found an exquisite glass slipper and he simply must find the owner."

Kakashi nodded gravely, seeming to understand the importance of this, but Sakura was once again very confused.

"What's the significance of the glass slipper?" she asked, looking from one to the other.

"It's a rural tradition in this area," Kakashi explained. "If a man finds a glass slipper, the woman whom the shoe fits is destined to be with him. Naturally, finding the woman can be quite tricky."

"I suggested to the Daimyo that he have all of the women in the village line up, so that he may try the slipper on all of them."

"Yes, usually the most effective method, though slow," Kakashi reasoned. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. We'll have to stay and help until this gets resolved."

And stay they did. For the rest of the day Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura assisted the ladies waiting for their turn to try on the slipper. They fetched water and paper fans, and even held places in line if someone needed to use the restroom. The line dwindled slowly, each woman being checked off of a list by an assistant and led to an opulent chair on which they perched while the Daimyo politely tried to slide the shoe onto each foot. All were too small or too large for the delicate glass slipper.

Finally the last woman had sat, and left in tears when the slipper would not go over her heal. The Daimyo was, predictably, tired and frustrated.

"Well, who does this damn slipper belong to, then!"

Kakashi, never one to lose his cool, spoke up. "Daimyo-sama, if I may—could I try something?"

The Daimyo simply waved his hand in disinterest, which Kakashi took as permission. Before Sakura knew what was happening, Kakashi was kneeling in front of her with the glass slipper in hand.

"Kakashi!" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Following a hunch, now take off your shoe."

"No! Put that thing back before you get caught!"

"It's fine, just do it, Sakura."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" she huffed.

"Just indulge an old man for once."

She supposed of all the things a pervert like Kakashi could indulge in, making her try on a shoe was fairly innocent. Unless he had a foot fetish, and if that was the case she was better off not knowing his reasons anyway. One thing she did know was that Kakashi was stubborn, and it was likely he would cause an incident over this damn _hunch_ before he backed down.

"Fine," she huffed again as she braced one hand on Kakashi's shoulder and crouched awkwardly to remove her boot from one foot.

Once her foot was bare, Kakashi gently took her ankle in one hand, and the shoe in the other. As if by magic, the shoe slipped easily onto her foot.

It was a perfect fit.

With a gasp, Sakura's head shot up and she locked eyes with Kakashi, who simply looked smug, like he had known this would happen.

"What did you do," she accused menacingly.

"Oh!" the Daimyo cried, having finally realized the exchange between them.

Caught red-handed, Sakura could only splutter her apologies and excuses as she hastily tried to remove her foot from the shoe without breaking it and—oh! Oh Kami she could _not_ marry some random Daimyo!

Happily the Daimyo pranced over to Sakura and Kakashi, as Sai and the Daimyo's assistants stood gaping some ways away. "Congratulations!" he crooned as his hands clasped in front of him and he looked lovingly from Sakura to Kakashi and back again.

What the hell was going on? Didn't this crazy local tradition mean she had to marry the guy who found the shoe? It seemed that Sakura would never understand anything happening on this mission, so she glared again at Kakashi in a silent demand for an explanation.

"Well you see, Sakura," he started as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "The legend really says that it's not the man who _finds_ the shoe, but the man who puts it on the woman's foot…"

" _What?"_ Sakura almost roared. "Is this some kind of joke you pervert?"

Sai was at her side then, trying to calm her down. "Sakura, it is imperative that you not insult the local traditions here. It's just a legend—you don't actually have to marry Kakashi."

Oh. Well, of course. They were from _Konoha_ and abided by Konoha law, after all.

"Right…" Sakura said sheepishly as a hot blush colored her cheeks and she sat down on the plush chair to remove the cursed shoe. As soon as it was off her foot one of the Daimyo's assistants whisked it away, only to return a few moments later to present it to her in an ornate box.

Sakura glanced at Sai and Kakashi, who gave her a little shooing motion with his hand, prompting her to accept the box awkwardly.

Mercifully they said short goodbyes to the Daimyo and his court, and they were on their way. Sakura shoved the box with the shoe deep into her pack, not willing to acknowledge the small part of her that was giddy with delight over having received a stupid glass slipper from Kakashi.

Before leaving, though, the Daimyo had insisted they stay the night in the village, offering a free room for the lovebirds. Kakashi, ever the cheapskate, took him up on the offer immediately. They were apparently scheduled to meet up with Naruto tomorrow.

The inn and their room were modest, though nicely furnished and clean. Sakura was given the first choice of beds, and at first she actually thought she might prefer the pull out sofa, as it was in a separate room from the two beds. Anytime she could get away from the guys for a night, she usually took the opportunity.

However upon falling onto the flimsy mattress, she immediately declared "This bed's too hard!"

Dutifully Kakashi offered her the bed on which he had thrown his bag, so Sakura tried that one next.

"This one's too soft!" she grumbled.

Sai, with only a little hesitation, rose from the bed on which he had already been lying, and let Sakura try it out, too. She skeptically climbed on top of the mattress, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "This one's just right," she declared contentedly.

Sai merely shrugged and went to the sofa as the three of them went about their nightly routines. Once the lights had been turned out and they lay in their beds, Sakura whispered goodnight to Kakashi, and fell asleep with a smile after his smooth voice returned the sentiment in the darkness.

* * *

The next morning brought a fresh start, and Sakura was determined not to let the strange events from the day before taint the rest of their mission. They had a beautiful walk through a lush forest to look forward to, and the shade of the trees made for the perfect weather.

However it wasn't long before they reached the village in which they were supposed to rendezvous with Naruto, only to find him conspicuously absent. There were troubled whispers, though; the townsfolk seemed jumpy with fear and spoke to each other urgently in hushed tones. The trio was able to piece together the problem quickly enough, though.

"A beast!"

"—Old castle in the woods."

"On a rampage!"

Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other with worry. That coupled with Naruto's absence in the village pointed towards the probability that the Nine Tails was in danger of appearing. Without waiting to find out more, they took to the treetops in the direction of the fabled castle. It wasn't long before they found it, and sure enough they could hear screeching roars coming from inside.

"What do we do?" Sakura worried. Kakashi seemed unafraid, she noted.

"Just wait," Kakashi cautioned.

Several minutes passed, when suddenly another figure emerged from the woods.

"Yamato!" Sakura was never so happy to see the wood-style user in her life. "What are you doing here?"

"I happened to be on a mission nearby and received an urgent message from Pakkun about an hour ago," Yamato explained with a raised eyebrow.

Kakashi was the perfect image of innocence, as if he hadn't immediately sent for Yamato as soon as they'd set foot in that damn village. But there was no sense in arguing because they desperately needed Yamato to help control Naruto, and they were all fortunate he had been nearby.

The group made their way hesitantly into the castle, where in the ballroom they did indeed find Naruto, with four tails sprouted as the beast's chakra took over his body.

Sakura's immediate reaction was to run to him—he was in pain and he was her teammate and she need to help him. But before she could go to him, Kakashi's strong arms were around her, holding her back.

"No, Sakura," he whispered consolingly next to her ear. "Let Yamato handle this. You could get hurt."

Kakashi's presence calmed her, and he held onto her even after the fight had gone out of her. She clutched onto his arms, comforted by his unwavering strength and confidence. When she was with Kakashi, she knew everything would turn out okay.

They watched together with Sai as Yamato approached Naruto and used his jutsu to subdue the beast inside. The battle lasted several minutes and more than once Sakura found herself curling into Kakashi's chest. He reassured her with a squeeze of his arms every time.

Only when the Nine Tails chakra had completely receded did Kakashi let Sakura go running to Naruto to heal him. As expected, he was badly burned and she worked quickly to close his wounds and soothe the burns with fresh, new skin. It was amazing how much damage the Nine Tails state wreaked on Naruto's body, but the same chakra that hurt him also aided in speeding up his healing process, and soon he was good as new.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi asked as soon as the blonde was sitting up again.

He looked ashamed, and answered quietly.

"The villagers sent me here to check out some weird noises—I think it was just some wolves—but while I was here this old lady came knocking on the door. She asked if she could stay the night, but I told her no because I didn't own the place. Before she would hear me out she said she was a witch and she would turn me into a beast. She chanted some mumbo jumbo and I think because I already have a demon inside me, whatever she did just kind of...set him free. I should have been able to stop it, but I couldn't."

"It's okay, Naruto," Sakura interjected quickly, "There's nothing you could have done."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "We'll check your seal again when we get back to Konoha, make sure everything is okay. Clearly this was all just a misunderstanding."

Naruto looked relieved to hear his teammates' words of reassurance, and looked to Yamato next.

"Yamato, thanks for being here. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't."

"I'm glad I was here too, Naruto. But I really have to get back to my own mission now…" he trailed off with an apologetic look at Kakashi.

The Copy Ninja simply nodded his thanks, and within moments Yamato had gone again. Tired but glad to be together and safe, Team Kakashi made their way back to the little village for a warm meal and good night's rest.

It was getting dark as they made their way down the quiet street, Sakura noticed a suspicious looking figure hunched in a hooded cloak ahead of them. Naruto and Sai were already bickering over whether or not they would eat ramen for dinner, so Sakura simply nudged Kakashi with a pointed look.

"I have another hunch," he said vaguely. "I think we've found our witch."

Sakura agreed. "You stay here and back me up," she instructed. I have a plan."

She was quite pleased at the way Kakashi simply went along with her directions, even not knowing what she had planned. It meant he trusted her. Sakura approached the figure meekly, trying to appear weak and not at all like a ninja.

"Excuse me?" she greeted tentatively.

The figure turned towards the lamplight and Sakura could see under the hood of his cloak. His features were quite…wolfish. She was quite sure this must have been one of the wolves causing the trouble that Naruto had been sent to investigate in the first place. Though she was feeling unimpressed with his lack of disguise, Sakura clasped her hands behind her back—all the better to make hand signals at Kakashi—and engaged in some small talk with the beast.

"What big eyes you have, sir," she said with wonder.

"All the better to see you with my dear."

The wolf was quickly growing annoyed with this pointless conversation, she could tell, but that was fine; she only needed a few more seconds to allow Kakashi to get into position behind him.

"And what big ears you have!"

"All the better to hear you with, of course," he said with anger bubbling just below the surface of his face. "What do you want?"

"And what a big teeth you have!" Sakura continued despite his question. But that apparently was the last straw, for the wolf lunged with his next words.

"All the better to eat you with!"

But a wolf—regardless of whatever power he had that allowed him to somehow release the Nine Tails chakra—was no match for a shinobi when it came to speed. Before his jaws could even get close to her, Sakura brought her fist to meet his face in a powerful punch that sent him reeling to the ground. Kakashi was casually standing just behind him, and bound him with wire once it was clear he would not be getting up again.

"I love it when you do that," Kakashi said offhandedly.

"Do what?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Act all innocent and girly then punch some guy's lights out. For some reason they're always clueless and it never gets old."

"Well if that wasn't a backhanded compliment then I don't know what is. I _am_ girly and I _am_ strong!" she retorted indignantly.

"Hey, I never said I didn't like it! I find those particular qualities to be…quite attractive in you."

His tone took on that darker tenor as it had in the tower, and Sakura sensed something deeper than just a compliment in his words. She blushed and looked away.

"C'mon, we better turn this guy in," she said before he could embarrass her further. Sai and Naruto were now staring at them dumbfounded from down the street.

* * *

The four of them set out early the next morning, happy to leave the last village behind them. They would finally reach their destination today and deliver the trade agreement to some doctor who owned the mining company.

The place they came upon next could hardly be called a village, though. There seemed to be just one shabby looking building in the middle of the forest. It was large and no doubt could house an entire business operation, but it seemed oddly out of place.

Kakashi led them through the wooden door anyway, into a small lobby where there sat a short, round-faced little man behind a desk.

"Welcome!" said the little man cheerfully. "Welcome, welcome to Dwarf Mining Company. I'm Happy, what can I do for you?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, but Kakashi's poker face was in full effect. (Sakura suspected that was one of the reasons for his damn mask.)

"We're here from Konoha to deliver a trade agreement," Kakashi explained.

"Oh! Well, you better go see Sleepy then. He's the first door on your right. Have a wonderful day!"

Glad to be moving on, they made their way to the door to which they were directed and knocked politely. There was a crash from inside followed by a snort and a muffled call that sounded a bit like, "mmmyes?"

Taking that as a sign to enter, Kakashi pushed open the door only to be met with the sight of similarly short-statured man who was in fact, sleeping. Kakashi repeated their purpose and the man barely responded with a small wave to their right, and something that sounded like, "Sneezy'sthatway."

"Oookay…" Naruto drawled as they shuffled out of the office and down the hall to the next door.

They proceeded through four more doors, each with its own Dwarf who shooed them onto the next, until finally knocking at a seventh door, finely finished with a brass handle. A Dwarf dressed in a stately suit answered promptly.

"Konoha, right? Well, come on in! 'Bout time you lot got here. I'm Doc."

Sakura and Kakashi shared an exasperating glance as they followed the seventh Dwarf into his office. After a brief and to-the-point discussion, Doc accepted the agreement.

Mission accomplished.

"I like him," Kakashi said as they were leaving a mere thirty minutes after stepping into Doc's office. "I wish all of our trade agreements were that easy to negotiate. No beating around the bush, all business."

It was midafternoon, and they would stay the night in some extra rooms before heading back to Konoha the next day. With some time to kill, they agreed to a nice round of "every man for himself" sparring. It started with Sakura's interjection of "or _wo_ man for _her_ self!" and eye rolling from Naruto, which earned him a kick to the gut, and the fight was on.

They say it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, but that usually isn't a problem with shinobi. They were used to all sorts of training injuries—cracked ribs, minor burns, deep bruises, and cuts from various sharp projectiles—but all of this and even more serious injuries were easily taken care of when you had a medic on your team.

It was only when the medic got hurt that they really had anything to worry about.

Sakura was facing off with Kakashi, and it was in a moment of distraction (had his forearms always looked so _attractive_ when they were throwing kunai?) that she reached into her pouch and pricked her finger on a senbon.

A _poisoned_ senbon.

She knew it was just a sedative, nothing serious and it would wear off in a few hours. But her vision swam before she could reassure him, and she could see Kakashi tilting to one side as he ran towards her with worry etched on his face.

* * *

An earthy, woodsy smell woke her first. It was familiar, but not the smell of outdoors. It was much more human—a person that she couldn't place; she never remembered the scent being so strong and close ever before. And it was comforting, like something she associated with safety and warmth.

Her eyelids were heavy, and as she pried them open she was grateful for a large shape blocking most of the light, but the way something glinted seemed vaguely familiar. As if struggling to remember bits and pieces of a dream, an image of Kakashi standing far below her with his silver hair shimmering in the sun came back to her.

 _Kakashi_. The shape above her was Kakashi, and he was wearing that same worried expression as he had when the world was tilting as she lost consciousness.

"Are you…are you my knight in shining armor?" she croaked out. She was slightly embarrassed that her voice sounded hoarse, but the way his mask stretched into what could only be a smile under the fabric eased her self-consciousness.

"Sleeping Beauty awakes," was his only cryptic reply before the door burst open.

"Sakura-chaaaan! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to poison you I swear! It was an accident!"

"Dickless, shut up, she's just barely woken up."

"Oh—right. Sakura-chan I'm really, really sorry!" Naruto tried in a stage whisper, which was barely any quieter than a normal person spoke anyway.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Sakura asked softly. Looking around, she realized she was in the hospital, although she must have been out for some time if they were already back in Konoha. But…she did this to herself, didn't she? She was reaching into her pouch and accidentally stabbed herself with the business end of a poisoned senbon.

She looked to Kakashi in confusion, and he understood her wordless request for an explanation.

"Naruto accidentally put some strange berries in your water—he didn't know they were poisonous. You keeled over not five minutes after we left, Sakura," he explained warily.

Sakura frowned.

"But—but we went on the mission! There was a tower, and I had to grow my hair. And then there was the glass slipper—oh! It should be in my pack, in a box! And then Naruto got tricked by some wolfy witch and Yamato had to subdue the Nine Tails…"

She trailed off as the three men stared at her strangely.

"Oh, tell me you at least remember the Dwarves!" she pleaded.

"I'm going to go get Shizune-senpai, hopefully she can help," Sai said as he backed out the door.

"Sakura, I think you were hallucinating," Kakashi consoled gently. He placed a hand on her arm and Sakura remembered a whole other aspect of her version of the mission.

Kakashi had feelings for her. And she had feelings for him.

Her face fell in disappointment, and she clutched at his hand so that he couldn't pull it away.

"So…it was all just a dream?" she clarified, desperately hoping that one part of what she remembered at least was real.

Kakashi always was good at reading her, and he seemed to sense the change in her demeanor. He may not know what it meant, but he recognized that there was something else that she was clinging to. He placed his other hand on top of hers.

"Fairy tales can teach us things, show us hidden truths in our own lives," he paraphrased his words from before they'd left for the mission.

Sakura paused, not sure how to respond or how to interpret his words. Naruto had lost patience, though.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about. I'm glad you're okay, Sakura; I'm gonna go let Hinata and the others know."

Sakura would make amends with him later, after she was done relishing perhaps the only time when Kakashi would hold her hands. She squeezed gently, and he squeezed back.

There was something else, though. That smell, that wonderfully comforting smell of Kakashi leaning over her when she woke up. Sakura absently rubbed a finger over her bottom lip.

"Kakashi…when I woke up you called me Sleeping Beauty, and you were leaning really close…" Sakura couldn't believe her own logic when it clicked into place, but—

"Kakashi did you…did you _kiss me?"_ she asked hotly.

He pulled a hand away and it went to the back of his neck in his (adorable) nervous habit while his eye creased into a smile with a small chuckle.

"Well…we were talking about fairy tales and I guess I got caught up in the moment. It's a good thing we weren't discussing _Icha Icha_ , I suppose, although we kind of did, before the fairy tales. Although there _is_ this one hospital scene where—"

Sakura couldn't hold back her grin anymore. It had been too much to hope for, but it seemed her dreams were trying to tell her something after all.

"Kakashi," she said to get him to look at her. When he did his face was burning, so she took one hand and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, dragging him closer. "Next time make sure I remember it."

So he did.

His mask disappeared and his lips met hers firmly. She smiled against his mouth as he leaned into this kiss, but he pulled away too soon.

The lopsided smile on his face was worth it, and so was the little smudge of her lip-gloss on his mouth.

"This is the 'they lived happily ever after' part, right?" Kakashi asked cheekily.

"Not so fast, Prince Charming. At least take me to dinner first."

"Of course, milady."

Sakura smiled again. Maybe fairy tales were worth believing in after all.

* * *

A/N: This one was rather silly. Enjoy it while it lasts...


	3. Under the Weather (Together)

Under the Weather

(Together)

* * *

It was quite by accident the first time Sakura stumbled on Kakashi at the memorial stone. She had been about fourteen then, and training hard under Tsunade's tutelage while Naruto trained with Jiraiya and Sasuke was hopefully safe wherever he was. Thinking about her other teammates always made her nostalgic, and after a hard training session with Tsunade one day, Sakura made her way to training ground three.

When she got there Sakura realized the field wasn't empty—Kakashi stood at one end, motionless in front of the stone. She hadn't seen him in months and without knowing what else to do, she approached him slowly.

"Sensei?" she called hesitantly when she was close enough.

He turned around, apparently ready to leave, and gave her a crinkly-eyed smile and a wave. "You seem to be doing well under Lady Tsunade. Keep it up," he said as he passed by her, ruffling her hair.

She scowled, not really sure what to make of the fact that he left as soon as she arrived. Looking back to where Kakashi had been standing, Sakura really looked at the memorial stone for the first time. She knew what it was, of course, but had never really paid much attention to it. How many of these names were of people that Kakashi actually knew? Were _his_ teammates on here already?

The thought made Sakura sick to her stomach as she imagined the characters of Naruto's name next to Sasuke's, carved into the smooth black stone.

Kakashi came here a lot, she realized. He always booked this training ground for Team Seven, back when they had still been a team. He spent so much time here; the memorial stone must be very significant to him. There must be some very important people that he came here to spend time with, and Sakura had interrupted him today. She felt a small amount of guilt, and with that decided she would try to leave him alone whenever he was here.

* * *

True to her resolve, it wasn't until a few years later that Sakura interrupted Kakashi at the memorial stone again. The village had been destroyed by Pain three weeks ago, and now he was being summoned for a war council. Sakura followed his trail, asking this person and that if they had seen the Copy Ninja all day. Eventually she made her way to the very edge of the village, where the rubble still lay. When she found him, he was perched precariously on some debris, staring down at the cracked and broken pieces of the beloved black obsidian stone.

He was here on purpose, she realized, and paused a few paces behind him. He would know she was there, of course. But the fact that he was _here_ meant he'd actually put effort into this endeavor—he'd started with the stone's original location, and based on the epicenter of the blast had gone looking for the stone. Perhaps even had to dig it up from the debris; who knew how long he had searched for it?

Ultimately Sakura approached him a minute later; she had a summons to deliver, after all. But it was not so urgent that she had to pull him away from his reverie too soon.

"Kakashi…how are you?" she asked quietly. It had been a few days since she'd last seen him—when they'd returned from their disastrous battle with Sasuke.

He was silent for just a few seconds too long, but his voice when he answered was not unfriendly.

"I'm fine, Sakura. Just feeling a bit…under the weather."

Sakura frowned. Was he still injured? Immediately her hands glowed green and she reached out for him without hesitation, checking his vitals and trying to figure out what was wrong. He chuckled at her softly, but let her continue.

She quickly realized there was nothing wrong with him—his injuries had healed, his vitals and his chakra were normal. He didn't even have a hint of a cold. And yet, he said he wasn't well. If Kakashi was well physically, that must mean he wasn't feeling well _mentally_. Emotionally.

Her chakra receded from her hands and she let them fall to her sides in understanding. Of course. The village was in ruin—everything his friends had died for was in ruin. He himself had died, only to be given a second chance at life.

If anything could make a person aware of their own mortality, it would be that.

Sakura wasn't sure if she should just deliver her message and let him be; this was such a private ritual for Kakashi. However she found it was not as uncomfortable as she would have imagined.

Physical wounds she could heal. But how did you heal the kinds of wounds Kakashi was suffering from right now? She supposed, after another minute of deliberation, that if she couldn't fix it, she could at least make it better. If she stood here with him, he wouldn't be alone. They were teammates, right? And teammates looked out for each other.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there with him. It was funny, she started to realize how easy it was for him to lose track of time here. Eventually, though, she did deliver her message.

"You're being summoned for a war council, you know," she told him.

"I figured," he replied ominously. "It's been brewing for days."

They were quiet for a minute more, and then Kakashi sighed heavily. His gloved hand came up and ruffled her hair affectionately, and she caught just a hint of a smile in his one bare eye as he walked away.

* * *

When the war was over, the memorial stone was finally exhumed from the wreckage and restored. A few small chunks were missing, but they had mostly been able to piece it back together. That wasn't so terrible. Not as much as the score of new names to add to it.

There was a ceremony in memoriam of all those who had died in the war. Afterwards, Sakura lingered. As she thought he would, Kakashi did too, until finally there was no one else.

She wasn't sure of his ritual. Did he pray? Did he bring offerings? As she observed, it seemed he simply stood there in silent reflection. She could guess how he felt.

 _Under the weather_.

Sakura's position as the Hokage's apprentice allowed her to be privy to many conversations that any other Chunin and most Jonin would not be. One of which was the short but heated debate over Obito Uchiha's place on this very memorial stone. The council elders had wanted it removed—he killed too many people, committed too many wrongs to deserve a place on the stone. Tsunade had lobbied for it to stay. Obito Uchiha was still a victim of the Third Shinobi War, she argued. And to remove his name from the stone would be a smack in the face to those who still mourned him. The elders eventually conceded.

Sakura knew this was all for Kakashi. She had fought alongside Obito, had healed him, after his allegiance had turned near the end. She was there when he finally died, and witnessed the sadness etched on Kakashi's face. But she didn't know Obito's story. She knew that Obito was Kakashi's teammate, that he had been thought dead on a mission many years ago, but that was it. What had happened between them, back then and during the war?

Sakura stood next to Kakashi, and he ruffled her hair in silent welcome. Dare she…?

Screwing up her courage before it left her, she quietly asked, "Kakashi…will you tell me about Obito?"

There was a sharp intake of breath and for a few seconds she was unsure of his reaction—would he be angry? Upset? Would he tell her to leave, or just stand there ignoring her?

But the breath was let out slowly and he looked up to the sky in contemplation.

"Obito was my friend," Kakashi began calmly as he looked down again at the stone.

For the next several minutes, Sakura listened raptly as he told her quietly of his past with Obito—and even more than she expected, he told her the tragic story of their other teammate, Rin. Sakura wasn't sure how many people knew these stories—maybe not even Naruto—and the significance of Kakashi's trust was not lost on her. This information was privileged, and although she had asked the question of him, he could have decided not to answer her. That he told her all of this meant he was letting her in just a little—letting her share his burden.

When his story was finished Sakura could only nod at him with sadness in her eyes. She had no words. What do you say to comfort someone in light of all that? But she suspected that Kakashi appreciated her silence more than empty condolences, anyway.

They stood in comfortable silence for several more minutes. She hated to leave him alone, but Sakura sensed he would not be leaving any time soon.

"Thank you, Kakashi, for telling me all this," she said genuinely. As she turned to leave, he caught her hand to stop her.

"Thank you, Sakura," was all he said, but the way he tightly squeezed her hand before letting go conveyed the depth of his gratitude.

As she walked away, Sakura couldn't help but feel they had broken down some sort of barrier between them.

* * *

A year passed, and piece by piece Konoha was being put back together. Some places Sakura knew from her childhood were put back exactly the way they had been, while others were almost unrecognizable. The changes were a hard reminder of what the village had been through, but it was probably a good thing. They couldn't move forward without change. The people, too, were changing. Kakashi became Hokage, and Sakura's friends seemed to all be moving in new, different directions. New relationships.

Naruto had finally gotten a clue about Hinata's feelings for him, and now the two were inseparable. More surprising was Ino's budding relationship with Sai—Sakura still hadn't gotten the full story on that. Shikamaru was jetting off to Sand every few weeks on "diplomatic" errands that really had more to do with Temari. And speaking of international relationships—even Chouji was supposedly involved with a kunoichi from Cloud. They were all moving on from the war and starting to shape their new lives.

Sakura, once again, felt left behind. At first things had been too chaotic for her to think about anything besides her duties to the village, but as things settled down she had been forced to face her own personal problems.

Namely, Sasuke.

She and Naruto had sacrificed so much of the last few years to get to this point, and for many months Sasuke's fate had been uncertain. But eventually, the controversy surrounding their wayward teammate died down, and Kakashi had pardoned his crimes because of his essential aid during the war.

Sakura wasn't really sure it cancelled out the things he had done.

There was a large part of Sakura's heart that still belonged to Sasuke. But after the horror of the war was over and all that was left was the aftermath, it was difficult to ignore the truth of his sins. He had killed. He had tried to kill _her_ , once. He had continuously hurt her, right up until the end. She wasn't sure that was something she could ever forgive.

When Sasuke left the village again as a free man, Sakura was torn between sadness and relief. It was hard to have had him back only to see him leave so soon, but at the same time she also hoped that without him there to distract her, she could sort out her own feelings.

Over time Sakura made a habit of going to sit atop the Hokage monument when she needed some time to herself, away from the bustling distractions of the village. She always picked a spot on top of Tsunade's stone head. Of all the Hokages, Tsunade was the one Sakura aspired most to be like. Being near her effigy should inspire some clarity, right?

Most of her friends went on dates or to a crowded bar when they finished with their work for the day—but that was the exact opposite of what Sakura wanted after she left the hospital. The end of a shift didn't mean an end to her concern over her patients, and she tended to worry over them even after leaving the building.

 _Did she leave that prescription order for the night nurse? Had she remembered to submit the inventory to Shizune? Would that Chunin in Intensive Care finally be awake when she arrived in the morning?_

Her thoughts swam and some time alone on the monument usually allowed her to wind down, meditate a little and let go of those things she could no longer affect that day. But there was one thought that always persisted, and would never leave her mind.

 _Sasuke_.

She couldn't seem to sort out her feelings for him. It was obvious his had not changed so she really just needed to move on. But there was something in his eyes when he left that gave her hope—just a small glint of light that he had never had while they had been teammates. Sakura was hanging onto the idea that maybe, _just maybe,_ he would come back to the village and come back to _her_. Then they could begin their lives together.

But did _she_ even want that anymore? What would their life together even be like? Sakura found that she had a hard time imaging their future, and she wasn't sure she really knew Sasuke very well anymore. Even now, after the war, when she thought of Sasuke she tended to still think of him as he was when they were Genin together, just a little older now. Could she really base a relationship on such old memories? He'd felt nothing for her then, but she still held out hope that Sasuke had changed. But if he'd changed, he wasn't the Sasuke she knew.

Frustrated by her circular thoughts Sakura stared down at her beloved village as the sunlight waned and lights popped on from streetlights, windows, and houselights. Twinkling below her, the village seemed at peace. Why could she not grasp that serenity like everyone else? Why could she not find her own slice of happiness? Sasuke seemed to only complicate her life.

It was a few minutes before she realized the lights below her were blurring. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying, but what else was new, right? _Sakura Haruno, crybaby_ , she mocked herself.

And of course, Kakashi chose that moment to approach her. She cursed his timing and hastily wiped at her face, sniffling slightly and hoping the cool air would clear her sinuses. She hadn't even noticed his presence, and was sure Kakashi would notice her slip-up too.

 _Way to go, Sakura. Way to prove yourself_ , she thought bitterly.

He sat down beside her, elbows resting on his drawn-up knees and hands clasped together.

"I like to come up here to unwind after a hard day," he said without preamble. "Everything seems simpler from up here."

Sakura frowned, not sure she could agree with that.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked after her lack of response.

Great, now the Hokage was worried about her. But, she supposed, he was more than that to her, right? They had trained and fought together in the war. They were teammates, and out of all the people that Sakura knew, she suddenly realized that Kakashi would probably understand the most. He must be feeling mixed emotions about Sasuke, too. Kakashi had tried to take him under his wing and ultimately failed just as much as Naruto and Sakura had.

"I'm feeling a bit…under the weather," she said with just a little hesitation, trying out his phrase.

She glanced at him and he nodded his understanding. He didn't offer any words of comfort, but he didn't pry, either. Sakura was sure Kakashi would listen to her pitiful problems if she felt like sharing them, but she couldn't get herself to do that to the Hokage. Instead, she simply leaned her head on his shoulder, and another barrier between them fell when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders in return.

* * *

It was just after Sakura's nineteenth birthday that she was promoted to Jonin. And it was a few months later, in the middle of summer, when Naruto married Hinata. Conspicuously absent was Sasuke, and this above everything else was the thing that broke Sakura's last string of patience with the Uchiha.

It was freeing, in a sense, to decide not to let your emotions be ruled by someone who cared so little for you. She was strong, confident. She was a celebrated war veteran and now she held the rank to support her reputation. Sakura Haruno's worth would no longer be defined by whether Sasuke Uchiha approved. Her confidence permeated all aspects of her life and fulfilled her sense of self.

She should have known, though, that pride came before a fall.

The shinobi world was at peace, there should have been no tension between the villages. But apparently there was still unrest between some of the smaller nations, who felt, once again, that their voices weren't being heard.

When one day a Genin was brought into the hospital with severe injuries from a mission gone wrong, Sakura's heart nearly stopped in her chest. He looked so much like Sasuke—her memories of Sasuke as a thirteen year old boy still remaining the most vivid in her mind. He was no Uchiha, but this injured boy had the same dark hair, cut so similarly that later Sakura wondered if it had been on purpose. Her breath caught and it took her a few precious seconds to shake herself into action.

It wasn't until two hours later, when the boy lay dead on an operating table, that Sakura truly lost it.

She managed to make it to the bathroom before she threw up. With dry eyes and as much of a steady voice as she could muster, she told a wary Shizune she would be leaving for the day. The tears started as soon as her front door shut and she made it to her bedroom before she fell into a sobbing heap on her bed.

For a long time she was wracked with sobs, until she fell asleep. And when she slept, she wasn't sure if her dreams were of the dead Genin whose name she didn't even know, or of Sasuke. She wasn't sure which was worse.

It wasn't that late—only about ten o'clock at night—when Sakura was awakened by a _tap tap tap_ at her bedroom window. Morosely she dragged herself out of bed to find Kakashi there, obviously wanting entrance. She was a mess—clothes wrinkled from having been slept in, and eyes puffy from crying.

Well, he could just get over it. Why did she care about what he thought of her? She was crying last time she saw him, too; it seemed this was becoming a pattern. Funny that he would show up just when she felt she was at her worst. Maybe it wasn't so horrible that he was here; it was nice to feel some comfort from another person.

Sakura opened the window and then wordlessly turned to leave the room, heading to the kitchen to make tea. Kakashi followed her, hands shoved into his pockets and slouching against the kitchen cabinets as she went through the motions.

When finally they sat down on the couch, Sakura wasn't sure where to begin.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm just…"

"Under the weather. I know."

His gentle voice should have been calming; he was here because he _knew_. He understood the crushing grief that could come out of nowhere, and he knew _her_. He knew she would need someone to help her weather this storm. And because of that—because they had started taking down barriers many months ago—Sakura's bottom lip trembled and another round of tears overtook her.

She wasn't sure what Kakashi had come here expecting, but what he got was a young woman who cried herself back to sleep against his chest. He never said a word that would indicate there was anything wrong with this, though, and as she sat there dirtying his vest he stroked her hair and held her close.

The next morning Sakura woke up back in her bed, which meant Kakashi had carried her there. She blushed at the thought, happy at least that he had been there when she needed him.

* * *

Kakashi was, and had always been, a very private person. A loner, some might even call him. His friends were few, and the ones still living were even fewer. Which was why he wasn't sure when he had started thinking of Sakura as someone to go to for _comfort_. For that matter, when had he started wanting to offer comfort to _her_?

He'd spent a few hours curled up on her couch with her as she cried through her grief. He had no words to offer her, but she didn't seem to need any. What could he have possibly said that would have stemmed the tide of her tears? Instead, he tried to will his intentions to her.

 _I know. I understand_. He wished saying those things meant something, but knew from experience that they fell hollow upon the ears of the grieving.

When she had finally cried herself to sleep, Kakashi let himself sit there holding her for a little longer. The smell of her hair was comforting, something he wanted to remember. Eventually, though, he'd stirred enough to carry her to bed and steal away silently into the night.

Sakura was slow to recover from this tragedy, though, and it worried him. In the past she had managed to bounce back rather quickly from bad experiences. Even after the war and all she'd seen and done, it didn't seem to take long before he would see her smiling in the street as she walked with Ino or Naruto. It could have been an act, he supposed, but then Sakura never had much of a poker face.

The difference seemed to be her friends; Ino and Naruto were embroiled in their own relationships. Sakura saw them occasionally, but from what he could tell they didn't have as much time for her as they used to. Kakashi, too, was busier than ever now that he was Hokage. But where did that leave Sakura?

Thoughts of her plagued his sleep for several nights, until one night guilt finally won out. Apparently his conscience wasn't going to let him sleep until he checked on her. It was late—too late for any kind of social call—but he would just look in on her.

He chided himself, feeling like a creep when he scaled her balcony and looked into the window of her darkened bedroom. She slept soundly, and Kakashi felt relieved. She would be okay.

But he watched for a just a minute too long, and under the moonlight he saw her features pinch into a frown. She thrashed back and forth for a few seconds and then suddenly bolted upright, heaving.

Kakashi backed away from the window, startled and also not wishing to be discovered. Sakura was most definitely _not_ okay.

He knew those dreams. Those terrors disguised as memories—they took root somewhere deep inside and could not be eradicated no matter how hard you tried. If you couldn't keep them at bay they would sprout and fester. The wounds would only grow, slowly taking from you—your sleep, your happiness, your ability to _feel_ —

Kakashi shut his eyes, keeping his own demons away. He knew, now, that he needed to help Sakura.

He could have referred her to Tsunade, or someone at the hospital. He could have shoved her onto someone else, let them try to fix her. But Kakashi knew there really was no "fixing." He'd abandoned her once, as a Genin, and doing so again would feel almost like betrayal.

So the next day when Kakashi made sure to drop by Sakura's place for dinner, he tried to look at her, really look at her. He saw her tired eyes, noticed the way she seemed to be in her own little world at times. But she always responded to him; when he brought her out of her reveries she would give him small smiles and carry on a conversation. He stayed late, well past dark, before saying goodnight.

He felt a little better, having spent an evening with her. She wasn't lost to the darkness yet, just struggling to navigate it.

Sakura didn't seem to mind, either, when he started making a habit of coming around her house for dinner. He grinned widely the first time he walked in unannounced and a place was already set for him at the table. And after dinner they adjourned to the couch, sometimes talking and sometimes simply enjoying the company while they each did some reading. It was always late when he left.

As the weeks wore on their barriers continued to fall as their comfort grew. He showed his face to her when he finally got tired of sneaking bites of her cooking, taking down the covering fabric nonchalantly before dinner one evening. She did a double take, and then cupped his jaw gently. She didn't comment on it other than that, but her smile was the biggest he had seen in a long while, and it made the loss of that wall so completely worth it.

It wasn't until Sakura was already curled against his side as they read their books one night, his arm lightly draped around her waist, that he realized they were _cuddling_.

Huh.

He only tightened his grip, rubbing her side briefly and she sighed contentedly.

Kakashi was coming to care for Sakura more than he realized. It was clear now that he was not just spending so much time with her for her benefit; he had come to genuinely enjoy their time together. He wanted to be with her _all the time_.

Work had taken on a torturously slow place. He found himself glancing at the clock each afternoon and gauging his stack of paperwork against Shikamaru's mood to see when he could slip out to go to Sakura's. He knew her schedule at the hospital not because he looked it up, but because he asked her about it because he cared. The smell of her hair was the last thing he thought about at night, and the sound of her laugh was the first thing he thought about each morning.

Not only did he seem to be helping Sakura keep her demons at bay, but she was helping him, too.

A few nights later he was (again) carrying her to bed when she sleepily opened her eyes and asked him to stay. He would have been hard-pressed to refuse. He fell asleep with a smile on his face and his nose buried in her hair, his arm slung around her waist.

* * *

Sakura stared at her hands for hours, never taking her eyes off of them. Was it just her, or was there more blood on them now than there was a few hours ago? She could have sworn she had painted her fingernails the same lush green as the maple leaves in spring, she could have sworn her skin had been thoroughly scrubbed and fresh. She remembered noticing a few specks of red a while ago, but thought nothing of it at the time. What happened? There was no memory of why her hands and arms seemed to have been dipped in a bucket of dark, warm blood.

After a few more hours the vision of her hands in front of her face shifted, and she was suddenly staring at two figures on the ground.

Sasuke and Naruto, after their final battle.

But something about the image looked wrong to her. They had both arms in tact, yes that was it. Her heart swelled for a precious second that maybe they hadn't permanently maimed themselves after all, but that thought disappeared when her gaze traveled up their bodies. They had both arms, but they were missing heads.

 _No_ , she thought. _No, they survived this. This isn't right!_

"Sakura."

The disembodied voice surrounded her and she spun wildly trying to find the source of Sasuke's call. Drops of blood flecked off of her fingertips and speckled the ground; it seemed to be streaming from some unknown source on her own body, but she wasn't wounded that she could tell.

 _Sasuke_.

"Sakura, you failed me."

 _No, I did everything I could! I saved you!_

"You failed me."

 _How? When?_

"You couldn't stop me from leaving the village, and now look at me."

 _I tried! But I wasn't strong enough then, not yet!_

"That's right. You're weak. You failed me."

 _No_ …

"Sakura!"

 _Naruto?_

Where were the voices coming from? She was crying now, but she couldn't wipe her tears away. She knew that if she did, she would find she was crying tears of blood.

"You failed them, Sakura."

 _Who?_

"All of them."

She turned around again to the place where Sasuke's and Naruto's bodies had been, only they weren't there anymore. All she could see for miles where piles of twisted, bloody corpses. She knew without a doubt they were all dead, but she heard their moans anyway.

She saw Ino, her long blonde ponytail twisted around her neck like a noose. She saw Hinata, whose eyes had been stolen. She saw Shikamaru, mummified and wrapped in shadows. She saw them all as they were in the gruesome aftermath of death—her friends, Tsunade, the nameless Genin who had Sasuke's hair…

And then her worst fear, the one person she wanted to see the least in this horrible place, and whom she always knew would appear there before her. Worst of all was _Kakashi_. He was the figure closest to her, his silver hair shot through with dark streaks of red. His chest gaped with a hole that she knew was the result of Chidori. A hole she couldn't fix, couldn't fill, he would never be made whole again and there was nothing she could do. Kakashi was supposed to be invincible, and if _he_ had fallen, how could she hope to live?

"Sakura," he said to her. How was he speaking when his chest was so unnaturally still?

 _What?_

"Sakura."

 _I'm right here!_

"Sakura!"

She gasped, opening her eyes to darkness. After a few moments of disorientation, a soft pillow and a warm blanket let her know she was back in the waking world.

"Kakashi!"

"I'm right here, Sakura, it's okay."

Her skin was damp with sweat, and Sakura quickly sat up to avoid the sudden suffocating warmth of the sheets. Kakashi was beside her, a hand on her shoulder. She finally managed to make out his face in the darkness and she cried out in relief.

"You're here," she whimpered, "You were gone…Naruto…Sasuke…all of you gone…"

"Shhh, I know. It's okay now, it was just a nightmare."

His arms came around her and she was pulled gently into his lap; Sakura curled into his chest as quiet sobs shuddered through her. The steady beating of his heart and the rhythm of his breathing calmed her as he muttered softly in her ear; Kakashi's voice was a low, soothing melody. It didn't matter what he was saying, only that he kept saying it because his voice grounded her and gave her hope. She felt safe again, wrapped in the warmth of his skin and the strength of his embrace. As she struggled to separate herself from the horrible nightmare, Kakashi kissed her forehead and rocked her gently.

"When will this go away, Kakashi?" she asked when her tears dried up. It was the first time she had spoken to him about these dreams, these nightmares, but somehow she always knew he would understand. He knew what it felt like to be unhurt, but still _under the weather._

"It never really does. It just happens less often, after a while."

She sniffled again, feeling her hopes to be dashed a little.

"But I'll always be here to chase the nightmares away, Sakura."

With a deep, shuddering breath she nodded into the curve of his neck. He was stroking her hair now, as he liked to do when he needed something to occupy his hands. It made her feel cherished, and somehow she knew he wasn't exaggerating. He would stay with her until the weather turned.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the whiplash from last chapter to this one. More angst tomorrow...


	4. Countdown (To the Best Day of Her Life)

Countdown

(To the Best Day of Her Life)

* * *

It was five years since the Fourth Shinobi War had ended and Sasuke had finally returned to Konoha. Although it had been rocky at first, life had slowly returned to normal. Sasuke had been pardoned by Tsunade, and had rejoined the shinobi ranks of Konoha. He was working his way through the ranks quickly, currently a Jonin like Sakura and Naruto, but hoped to make his way into ANBU. Sakura was very proud of him and how hard he had worked to regain his place. Sasuke was even slowly coming to terms with the idea of taking orders from Naruto someday, whenever Tsunade decided to finally step down and hand the title of Hokage to Naruto.

It was about a year ago when Sasuke had finally come around to returning Sakura's romantic feelings. Their relationship was slow and tentative at first, and Sakura had found that Sasuke had surprisingly little experience with romance. It wasn't that she thought he'd been gallivanting around with women while he'd been away from Konoha, but because he had always been so popular Sakura assumed he would just know certain things, like to bring her flowers occasionally or that there were other things they could do on a date besides have dinner.

Eventually, Sakura realized the sad truth that Sasuke had no one to _learn_ these things from as he grew up, and Sakura had taken it upon herself to take charge in their relationship from there on out. She had been patient with him, though maybe a little bossy at times, planning all of their dates and helping him learn how to date. He seemed content to follow her lead, and Sakura was doubly pleased when he started bringing her flowers every week.

Sakura was curled comfortably into Sasuke's side, his arm slung across her shoulders as they watched some mindless television. He was leaving on a mission tomorrow, and Sakura had requested they spend a quiet evening together. But, something nagged at her and she sighed, fidgeting.

Really, it was Sasuke who weighed on her thoughts. He'd been acting strange the last few days, and tonight he seemed especially distant. His thoughts were clearly somewhere else and something was bothering him, which really hindered their ability to have a nice evening together.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" she finally asked, careful to keep an even tone.

"It's nothing, Sakura," was his blunt reply. Closed off. Distant.

She frowned.

"It's not nothing—I can tell something's bothering you," she tried again.

"I don't want to talk about it—"

"Why not? You're leaving tomorrow on a mission and you should have a clear head."

He sighed and looked away from her, withdrawing his arm.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" he complained.

"No, now just tell me. You'll feel better when you get it off your chest and then we can have a nice evening."

Another heavy sigh—Sakura was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"Sakura…" he scrubbed a hand though his hair and looked searchingly around the room before finally landing on her again. "I don't think this is working. Us. It just feels…like it's not exciting anymore, not enough. I'm sorry."

She felt a weight settle in the pit of her stomach, her worst nightmare coming true. Sure, their relationship was pretty _routine_ , she guessed. They had dinner three nights a week and on Saturdays she spent the night at his house. It was simple, but they were happy, right?

Right?

Apparently they weren't, she realized as her face fell and Sasuke's words sunk in.

 _He was breaking up with her._

She felt tears welling in her eyes but refused to let them fall.

"I see," was all she said in a small voice.

She would not beg him to reconsider, would not ask him what had gone wrong. It simply…wasn't enough for him. She couldn't ask him to take back the words now, and any explanation wouldn't change the outcome.

He was looking away from her again, now that he'd said his piece. Sakura wasn't sure what to do with herself, suddenly very aware that he had shifted away from her on the couch so that they were no longer touching.

Without a better option, Sakura simply rose from the couch and walked to the front door, sliding her feet into her sandals slowly and shouldering her purse. There was a large part of her that hoped he would call out to her, tell her not to go, that it was all a misunderstanding—but he didn't. So with one hand on the doorknob she paused.

"Be safe on your mission, Sasuke," she said absently, and didn't look back or wait for his reply.

* * *

A miserable week passed. Sakura had indulged Ino in a girls' night where they drank sake and did their nails; the blonde claimed it would be like cleansing her palate and she could start moving on. Sakura wasn't so sure about that; there had been far too much crying on Sakura's part for that to be any sort of fun. She felt no sense of peace when she left Ino's place the next morning, nails done but eyes puffy.

"Forehead—" Ino called to her as she opened the door to leave. Sakura paused and looked back at her friend.

"The best way to get over someone is to get _under_ someone else."

Sakura gave Ino a flat look, not really sure if she was serious or not.

"You'll thank me later!" was the singsong reply that came through the door as Sakura shut it behind her.

Sakura idled away some time doing busy work around the Hokage tower. After a few hours Genma approached her with a mission scroll; apparently Tsunade had noticed her depression and need for a distraction because it was an A-ranked mission with none other than her old Sensei.

"It was supposed to be _my_ mission with Kakashi," Genma pouted dramatically. "But I guess it pays to be the Hokage's favorite."

He winked at her as he passed, looking not at all disappointed at this change of plans. Sakura figured he was all too happy to dump his mission on someone else, considering Shizune also had a few days off coming up.

 _Yet another happy couple,_ Sakura thought morosely.

A one-night stand wasn't exactly something that appealed to Sakura, but a mission with Kakashi as her partner definitely did. She had always mocked Kakashi's inability to sit still _retire already_ , but not today. It was the perfect opportunity; Sasuke was due back tomorrow and she could escape before she had to see him around the village again.

* * *

The mission went smoothly for the first few days; they merely had to infiltrate a criminal compound and gather some intelligence. There was an ever-changing roster of rogue ninja and common thugs that lived in the compound in between mercenary jobs; Sakura and Kakashi should have been able to slip right in as long as they kept up their henges and played their parts. But some of them must have been uncharacteristically smart; within four days they had been found out, and Sakura didn't know what gave them away.

It happened late at night when she was on her way to the bathroom, wearing only a robe for a shower. There were few women in the compound but all of them were just as tough as their male counterparts, and so far Sakura only had to endure some leering stares and catcalls. She supposed it was only a matter of time before one of them tried something incredibly stupid, but she hadn't planned on being surrounded by four of them—at least three of which she knew to be Jonin-level ninja.

Sakura and Kakashi had not hidden the fact that they were ninja—they had to act like they were _capable_ —but they had of course downplayed their trademark abilities. Sakura was at a severe disadvantage in this fight, though. She would not be able to outmaneuver all four of them with just taijutsu, and the quarters were too close for her to use her chakra to punch her way out without possibly bringing the whole building down around them. She tried to infuse just enough chakra into her blows to fend them off without flinging them into walls, but it was too much for her to handle while trying to hold back, and soon two of them held her firmly between them.

With disgust she realized her bathrobe was nearly hanging open, the knotted belt having loosened in their struggle. At first she thought they were simply looking for an easy female target to which they wanted to do something vile. The third one—probably the leader of their little gang—grabbed her jaw and wrenched her head to the side, leaning in close and dragging his nose intimately across her neck.

"How disappointing, you don't _smell_ like cherry blossoms. Maybe that just means I can crush you like one."

 _He knew_.

They knew who she was, and her life was forfeit if she couldn't escape.

Though it was perhaps the most girlish thing she could think to do, Sakura let out an ear-splitting scream. Kakashi's room wasn't too far—he would hear her and coming running, though she couldn't risk using his name in case his identity was still unknown.

Sakura no longer cared about controlling her chakra—she let it flow through her muscles as she kneed the ringleader in the groin and then ripped one arm free from one captor, then flung his partner at him; they both hit a wall, but not hard enough to make them stay down.

Sakura felt a searing pain as a kunai embedded itself in her thigh, flung haphazardly by the man with the groin injury. It threw her off balance and she staggered, only to be body-checked by the fourth attacker—the heavyweight. Her head hit the wall hard but she tried to keep her focus as she pulled the kunai and slashed at the large man. She only managed to graze his throat, but it would be enough.

Unfortunately her scream also brought out a dozen or so other curious lowlifes that soon joined the fray. She could see Kakashi fighting his way through to her, but like she had been, he was trying to control his attacks just enough to not further give away their identities or cause damage that they would not be able to escape from. She suspected she had a concussion and her injured leg gave her trouble, she was struggling to fight off more attackers with the single kunai. Another slice to her back did her in, and she felt herself falling to the ground as Kakashi cried out her name.

* * *

When Sakura regained consciousness she was curled into Kakashi's chest, and he was running hard. Pain lanced through her leg and her back with each of his steps, but she could feel her leg at least had been bandaged.

"Kakashi—what happened?" she asked as soon as she was focused enough to speak.

He looked down at her with unmistakable relief; his face was much easier to read when he had both eyes uncovered.

"Used a transportation jutsu—I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner—we're headed to a civilian town where there's a doctor I know of."

"It's okay," she assured him, "I'll be able to heal myself now."

He gave her a worried look, but didn't argue. Nor did he give any indication that he would put her down, which Sakura was secretly happy about; she felt more secure now. It had frightened her not being able to fend off her attackers, but Kakashi had been right there to save her. He was always right there when she needed him.

On the outskirts of the town Kakashi stopped, and did finally set her unsteadily onto her own feet. He fished an extra shirt out of his pack—he must have had the forethought to grab it before heading into the fray of the fight. At Sakura's questioning look he gestured awkwardly to her appearance.

"You look a little, ah, worse for wear. This will help."

She glanced down at herself, noting that Kakashi had tied her robe tighter, probably when he'd bandaged her leg. She blushed when she realized just how high on her thigh that wound really was. But he was right, as usual; she couldn't very well go traipsing into a civilian village in nothing but a tattered bathrobe. Kakashi would draw enough attention in his bloody uniform as it was.

She took the shirt from his hands and gingerly slipped her arms into the sleeves, hissing as the movement agitated the wound on her back.

"Let me—" Kakashi said as he took the shirt back into his hands. He gathered the fabric until it was bunched up around the neck, and slipped it over hear head and then gently down her back. Sakura fished her arms back through the sleeves and they were off again—though much slower on foot and with Sakura trying poorly to hide her limp. She used Kakashi's waist for balance, and he kept a steadying arm around her.

Kakashi checked them into a shabby little motel, but it was a splurge considering they normally slept outside in bedrolls on missions. As it was, the room still only had one bed, but that didn't matter. It wouldn't be the first or the last time Sakura had shared a bed with a male teammate.

Once inside the room Sakura immediately wheeled on Kakashi with a glowing hand—only to feel herself suddenly a little lightheaded. She sat abruptly on the bed to steady herself.

"Heal yourself first," Kakashi ordered as he set about placing various seals and traps around the room.

She glared at his back, knowing he was probably hiding injuries, though he seemed to be moving all right. She went to work on her leg first, making sure Kakashi was otherwise occupied as she unwound the bandage. It was not as deep as she had feared, but it had bled quite a bit; she was able to heal it within a few minutes. But the wound on her back was somewhat of a problem—she could see into the bathroom far enough to see there was no mirror, and bit her lip.

"Kakashi?"

"I'm fine, I promise, Sakura."

"No—it's not that. I—I need your help."

He was striding toward her in an instant, a worried look playing across his face again.

"I can't see my back—it's a lot harder to heal things when you can't see them. I need—I need you to help me. Just tell me if it looks infected."

He nodded, but masked any other emotions. He helped her remove the shirt he'd put on her just a little while ago, and then sat next to her as she turned her back to him.

It was the most he had ever seen of her, when she dropped the shoulders of the tattered robe to her waist and left her bare back exposed to him. She crossed her arms over her chest and grasped the opposite shoulder with each hand, willing the blush in her cheeks to cool.

 _It's just Kakashi_ , she chided herself. She'd seen him nearly naked on several occasions and this was hardly any different.

"It's a little swollen—probably from the way I was carrying you, sorry—but it doesn't look infected," he told her in a quiet voice.

"Okay," was all she said as her hands glowed again and she directed the chakra to where it hurt. She could feel the wound stitching itself back together, but it was hard to tell how long it was. Kakashi must have sensed her trepidation and she felt a single one of his fingers ghost across her skin for the length of a few inches.

"Here," he said, his voice lower.

The touch and his voice sent a tingle down her spine, and she shivered, all too aware of his lingering finger on the small of her back. She directed her chakra to the place he'd indicated, and a few minutes later she felt the last of the pain receding.

As the glow of her chakra faded Sakura felt Kakashi's finger trace the now-invisible line where the long wound had been.

"Good as new," he remarked in the same low voice that was having a heady effect on her.

She kept her back to him but turned her head to glance at him, unsure of his intentions. She met his gaze and found an intensity burning there that she'd never seen on his face. His fingers caressed her bare back lightly and then his palm was pressed against her skin, running down the length of her spine and around almost to her waist before stopping.

This was something entirely different. Sakura recognized this now—the intensity in Kakashi's eyes was desire. He was waiting for her reaction before he did anything else. She knew with certainty that if she simply pulled the robe back up over her shoulders, he would pull away and they would never speak of this moment again.

But Ino's words came back to her then. _The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else._

Sakura was quite sure sleeping with her teammate and former Sensei was not what Ino had in mind, but the opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Kakashi was an attractive man, even into his thirties. He was a _good_ man, and he would do what he always did—he would take care of her. It just so happened that what she needed now was intimacy, and he was willing to share it with her.

Her arms dropped to her sides as she turned to face him fully. He didn't even glance at her bare breasts at first, instead holding her gaze as he peeled his mask down. They sat there bared to each other for several seconds, moving closer, closer.

And then he kissed her.

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke up to an empty room. Kakashi's pack was still in the corner—it's not like he would ever abandon her on a mission of course. But Sakura could guess what it meant.

He was giving her space. Clearly, Kakashi had slipped out unnoticed in order to escape an awkward morning-after. Sakura couldn't really blame him; it's not like she expected anything different. Still, it was more disappointing than she would have imagined.

Last night with Kakashi had been…passionate. There was so much desire, so much intensity that passed between them. Their bodies moved around each other with the confidence and familiarity of old lovers. She couldn't ignore that there had been more comfort and connection with Kakashi in one night than Sakura could ever remember sharing with Sasuke. What did that mean?

It was troubling to think that Sakura could be so heartbroken over Sasuke, and so easily charmed by another man's body. Was she just feeling such a connection to Kakashi because she missed Sasuke? Or was that connection real?

Sakura tried to puzzle these things out as she quickly showered. She had no idea when Kakashi would be back, but it went without being said that she shouldn't be naked when he arrived. With a frown she donned the robe again, folding it and tying it as tightly around her waist as she could, followed by the bloodstained shirt Kakashi had given her yesterday.

For a man known for his tardiness, Kakashi really did have impeccable timing; he strolled casually into the room without so much as a knock as Sakura was slipping her sandals back on. Sakura cringed inwardly; she made the mistake of stiffening for just a second when she realized his presence. He of course would have noticed, but his aloofness was so thorough that he never let on anything was different between them.

He set a cloth bundle on the bed for her when she straightened up again, and when Sakura unwound it she realized it was a pair of pants. They were obviously men's—too long and too loose—but they were new. Kakashi had gone and gotten these from somewhere in town for her, knowing she needed something to wear. Also inside the little bundle were a few kunai, as she had lost hers, as well as some fruit and a hunk of bread. She busied herself with eating breakfast as she fought to hide her blush.

It was silly, really. Kakashi was just doing what he would have done for any other teammate, which was take care of them. But Sakura couldn't help but feel stupidly like he was being extra thoughtful for her. She'd spent the last couple of weeks in such heartbreak; it was hard not to let herself feel a little hope.

Kakashi turned away from her as he strapped the last of his weapons on his person, and Sakura used the opportunity to pull the pants on, discarding the wretched robe for good. They were too large, but at least she could move in them. She quickly bound the lower legs and shoved her feet back into her sandals as she had seen other shinobi do countless times, then slid a kunai next to each of her ankles and one in her waistband. Kakashi moved towards the door and she followed, but stopped when he paused at the door. He barely turned his head back towards her, but she could hear the casual, fake eye crinkle in his too-friendly voice.

"About last night—we're both adults, and teammates. You know how this goes, right?"

Sakura's heart sank. Well, so much for that little bit of hope. Her face probably faltered for a moment but she recovered quickly, affecting the same mask of friendly indifference as he.

"Yeah—right. No need to complicate things."

He nodded once and then walked quickly through the door. The message was clear. They would not speak of last night outside of that motel room.

The journey home was silent, but Sakura could think of nothing to say to change that. She and Kakashi would just need some time apart, and then things would—hopefully—go back to normal. But in her effort not to think about Kakashi, she was really only left to think about Sasuke.

Regret washed over her for the first time since she'd woken up. Not only was she drowning in heartbreak, but she'd put a strain on another friendship as well. She found herself pining for Sasuke, missing him more than ever and wishing she could go home to him and put this whole disastrous mission behind her.

They were approaching the gate and Sakura clearly needed to go back to bed; now she was imagining Sasuke waiting for her right there. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds and then opened them, only to see Sasuke moving towards her.

 _He was really there._

It was like something out of a fairy tale, the way Sasuke came striding towards her, troubled expression on his face but strong and with open arms. Sakura stopped walking, hardly believing her eyes and feeling the hopeful tears already welling.

He paused in front of her for just a moment, but must have read something in her face that gave him the confidence to wrap his arms around her and speak quietly into her ear.

"Sakura—I'm so glad you're safe."

Her tears fell and she wrapped her arms around his waist in return. It really was like a dream come true. She pulled back to look at him, not able to help the little confused smile she was giving him. But— _why was he here?_ It wasn't like he would wait at the gate for just anyone to come home, but he'd ended their relationship the last time he saw her. Could she really believe he had reconsidered?

"Sasuke—" she started to say, but he cut her off with a chaste kiss.

"Later, Sakura," he whispered with a significant glance in Kakashi's direction.

Stunned but thrilled at his apparent change of heart, Sakura forced herself to separate from Sasuke, remembering herself—they were still returning from a mission. When she looked around, she caught Kakashi's eye as he strode past the couple. His look was cold, and Sakura was clearly dismissed. Somehow that look burned her, and made Sasuke's arm around her waist feel heavy. Deep in her heart she felt a door slam shut, an opportunity lost.

She tightened her grip on Sasuke, and smiled at him instead.

* * *

With an audible growl Kakashi stomped down the stairs of the Hokage tower, having just debriefed with Tsunade. When they'd first escaped the compound Kakashi had sent Pakkun off with a message to the Hokage, filling her in on the situation. Apparently Naruto had been in the room when Pakkun arrived. The idiot felt the need to share confidential mission details with one Sasuke Uchiha, who came running back to Sakura with his tail between his legs upon their arrival in Konoha.

A year or so ago Kakashi hadn't been at all surprised when Sasuke and Sakura started dating. He and Naruto had even had a bet about how long it would take to happen (which Kakashi won). But the whole thing seemed very forced; they went to the same restaurant three times a week and always spent Saturdays together. Kakashi felt like a bit of a creep for knowing these details, but he was a _ninja;_ it was his job to observe those around him and to pay attention to patterns and detail. He told himself it was strictly for observational purposes and not at all because he felt a bit protective of Sakura. Perhaps she had forgiven the Uchiha but Kakashi hadn't completely made peace with him. Sakura had been put through the ringer while Sasuke gallivanted around with Orochimaru, and Kakashi quite honestly believed she deserved better.

So when he noticed the break in their routine and ran into a puffy-eyed Sakura leaving a bar with Ino a few days before their mission, he knew what had finally happened.

Kakashi swore he wasn't smiling as he walked home that day.

His suspicions were confirmed later that week when he met Sakura at the gates to begin their mission. She had given him a sad smile and he had ruffled her hair before taking off ahead of her. He pretended to not notice that she had instantly cheered up at his familiar antics.

Now after Sasuke had hurt her _yet again_ she was just going to take him back like nothing had ever happened.

It made Kakashi irrationally angry.

He had never intended to sleep with Sakura. He could admit to having noticed how beautiful and powerful she had become, and could even admit that if she had not been in a relationship, he might have pursued her at some point. But the fact was that she had been in a relationship and he never expected anything to happen with her.

Until that mission.

Adrenaline was a blessing and a curse. In the heat of battle it was quite useful, but he wished some brilliant medic-nin would find a way to _turn it off_ before he did something stupid. Like sleep with Sakura. Now he couldn't even ask her to make this hypothetical drug to control his hormones. Which sounded a lot worse than it really was, not like he was some animal who couldn't control his urges. He just made stupid decisions.

It would figure that the one person he had no business sleeping with had also been the best lover he'd had in a long, long time. It would be a while before he could forget her, but of course in the light of morning he knew he had to close that path before they went down it. Neither Kakashi nor Sakura would benefit from a repeat of last night, and they needed to quit while they were ahead.

And yet, seeing her run back into Sasuke's arms like the Uchiha hadn't broken her heart two weeks ago—like Sakura hadn't woken up in another man's bed just that morning—made something in his gut twist savagely.

* * *

Kakashi avoided his team for the better part of a week, mostly so he could avoid Sakura. But all of them were well known around the village and try as he might, Kakashi could never escape reminders of her completely.

" _Naruto and Sakura were at Ichiraku last night…"_

" _Sakura-san helped my son when he was injured…"_

" _Sasuke Uchiha just got engaged to Sakura Haruno."_

That last one made Kakashi stop in the middle of the street. Surely it was just a rumor? It had to be.

But as Kakashi worked his way through the busy streets he listened intently, and the talk was everywhere, with the consistency indicative of truth and not a made up rumor.

Supposedly Sasuke had heard of Sakura's near-miss on the mission with Kakashi, and had been beside himself over the idea that she may not come home. He'd proposed to her two days after their return.

Two days after their return Kakashi had been sitting in a bar, drinking alone to forget the very same girl and the scent of her skin. The contrast was striking.

How could Sakura just accept his apologies? Sasuke had broken her heart—Kakashi had seen the way it weighed on her the entire mission. They came back and she just accepted him? Accepted his commitment without question?

After sleeping with Kakashi?

He paused again, shoving that thought into the farthest corners of his mind. Sakura was only doing what made sense, he reasoned. There was nothing between them and Kakashi had no reason to be so angry. Instead he should be happy for her, but he at least allowed himself some time to come around to that.

But as it seemed, that was more easily said than done.

For weeks Kakashi endured the buzzing excitement about the upcoming nuptials. He'd even choked out a congratulations to the two of them when Naruto finally guilted him into a team dinner. Sakura had beamed, and the way she practically ignored Kakashi for the rest of the evening stung.

Finally, Kakashi was forced to admit that somewhere along the line he had fallen for Sakura.

It had never been apparent to him until they slept together, but now he wasn't sure how he could have missed it. His jealousy ran deep. Soon, Sakura would be married to another man—one who didn't deserve her—and Kakashi would lose her forever.

* * *

Never one to act rashly—okay, maybe rarely, since a rash decision was what got him into this mess in the first place—Kakashi forced himself to step back from the situation. He had specifically told Sakura to forget their tryst ever happened. Well, not specifically, because he hadn't been able to get himself to say the words, but his meaning had been understood. And because of that, he really had no right to meddle in her relationship with Sasuke.

He reasoned that it was likely to fall apart anyway—he still couldn't imagine Sasuke being able to make Sakura happy and vice versa. Eventually they had to realize they were doomed to failure, right? They had ten months until the wedding, and surely they would figure it out before they made an irrevocable mistake.

Kakashi decided to wait it out on an extended mission to Suna.

When he returned two months later, not much had changed except the chatter around the village died down. Kakashi couldn't decide if that was good or bad. On one hand, it was a relief not to hear about Sakura's impending nuptials everywhere he went, but on the other, he was desperate for information.

In a masochistic way, Kakashi craved information in order to feed his hope. With each passing month he heard whispers of the wedding plans that shred his hope just a little more. He berated himself often—if only his knee-jerk reaction hadn't been to push her away, Sakura wouldn't be out there picking out flowers with Sasuke.

Was Kakashi the only one that had felt such a strong connection that night in the motel? At the time it had freaked him out and he blamed it on the adrenaline rush. Now though…he pined for her. Kakashi didn't know what it was that had passed between them, but it was the most intimate sexual experience he'd ever had.

In an attempt to distract himself, Kakashi had even gone so far as to bed a couple of other women. Although they had certainly been entertaining, there was no way to replicate what he had experienced with Sakura.

After several more months, Kakashi was tired of running from a truth he had come to fear: he might be in love with Sakura. It seemed impossible, because he'd only shared one night with her. But aside from that, they had built a friendship and a sense of comfort that only those who had been through hell and back could share. They fit together, and it was only in hindsight that Kakashi had been able to see it.

Now, sleeping with Sakura seemed not to be the stupidest mistake he'd ever made—but pushing her away was.

He had to get her back.

Kakashi was being selfish, he knew. Sakura had never been his to begin with. But as long as she wasn't married, he had to try. He would never forgive himself if he didn't tell her how he felt, always wondering if there was more he could have done.

* * *

With a month to go until the wedding, Tsunade decided that was the time to hand the position of Hokage to Naruto. Sakura was grateful for the distraction from her own life.

The wedding loomed over her, and while it was fun to pick out flowers with Ino and pretty dresses with Hinata, Sakura was feeling overwhelmed. Everything was ready, but still thinking of the day made her anxious. Her relationship with Sasuke was the same as it had ever been; Sasuke spent ample time with her and they did all the things that couples did. But lately it had begun to feel like they were just going through the motions. And if Sakura could feel that, she was sure that Sasuke could as well.

Wasn't that his complaint nearly a year ago when they had broken up for the span of a couple of weeks? It made her question Sasuke's feelings, but he told her regularly that he loved her and had more or less given her carte blanche with the wedding plans. Surely if he was unsure of his commitment, he wouldn't have let it get this far, right?

And through all of that, there was Kakashi. She had barely seen him since that mission on which they'd slept together; even on the few occasions she had seen him, they only spoke empty greetings.

Sakura found that she _missed_ him. She missed his strong, steady presence and she missed the way he would ruffle her hair affectionately. She would even go so far as to say that just seeing him reading his porn while hanging out with the rest of their team would have made her happy.

But how could she strike up a conversation with him now? _Hey, I know we haven't talked in a year, and you told me you didn't want to do this again, but I can't stop thinking about that night we spent together?_

And there it was—the truth. Sakura had felt it the minute Kakashi had walked away from Sakura and Sasuke at the gate that day—a missed opportunity. There had been something there, something worth exploring between she and Kakashi. And they had shut that door before it even really opened. Rather, Kakashi had shut it.

Sakura would be better off to forget him. She was marrying Sasuke—her dream come true.

* * *

The night of Naruto's inauguration there was a large, formal dinner. The Kage from all four other Great Nations had been invited, though Gaara was the only Kage to actually attend. Still, the other countries had sent high-ranking ambassadors in their stead. Naruto's close friends and a good number of elite Jonin had been invited as well, and the ballroom in which the party was held was full.

Sasuke had attended the dinner but ducked out once plates had been cleared away and dancing had started—being in the same room as Killer Bee and Darui of the Cloud put him in an unpleasant mood. So Sakura mingled among the guests alone, not wishing to stay in one place all evening because if she did, she would be entirely too aware of Kakashi's presence.

She did a good job of it too—she had been laughing with C from the Cloud village when his attention had been demanded elsewhere, so Sakura made her was across the hall to get a cup of punch. At least, that was her intention, until there was suddenly an arm around her waist and she was spun elegantly in another direction.

Right into Kakashi's arms.

There was a sharp intake of breath at being faced with his presence so suddenly, but Kakashi's face was as smooth and unreadable as ever. This was really the last thing she needed—as much as she missed him, Sakura knew she needed to forget him. But there were too many people, and she wouldn't be able to escape without causing a scene. Not sure what else to do, Sakura simply let Kakashi lead her around the dance floor, but she studiously looked anywhere but at him. He was leading them towards a more secluded corner of the room, and Sakura felt like a trap was closing in around her.

"We've been avoiding each other," he said lowly in place of a greeting. "Why?"

She glared at him, latching onto any other emotion but the one that made her want to spill her guts to him and tell him how much she missed him.

"You know why," she replied stonily. What a stupid question.

"I meant why have we been denying ourselves? Don't try to tell me you didn't feel it, too, that night."

"Because _you_ —you pushed me away!" she hissed.

"I was wrong, Sakura. I've tried to stay away, but I can't get you out of my head, and I can't help but think you're struggling with the same thing."

She bit her lip and looked away again. How did he know her so well?

"That was probably the best night of my life, and I didn't even know it at the time. And now…"

His sentenced trailed off, but Sakura knew what he meant. _And now she was getting ready to marry Sasuke._ She looked back at Kakashi, into his eyes, and read the question there.

He wanted her to leave Sasuke to be with him.

Suddenly Sakura became very aware of Kakashi's body; she hadn't been this close to him since they fell asleep in each other's arms in that motel. It was like her body had forgotten his, but suddenly remembered—there was a current running through her, a need to be closer to him. When did her chest become pressed against his? Why was his mouth so close? If they kept moving their lips would meet in a kiss.

Sakura wasn't sure who moved, because they were both angling for it. There was a part of her that felt a stab of disappointment when Kakashi regained control first, looking away sharply.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

His voice now held a bitterness that made Sakura's heart ache. She could make that ache go away—if she would just take her hand and put it against his strong jaw. It would only take that one kiss and Sakura could explore this pull she felt with him.

But he was asking her to throw away so much—her marriage to Sasuke. An entire relationship that had struggled and faltered and that she had fought for tooth and nail. And based on what? A few months of pining loneliness?

She couldn't do it. Whatever her reservations were about Sasuke, she couldn't give up everything she had with him to take such a large gamble.

The music broke, and Kakashi gave her a long, sad look as he released her. She could already feel the tears welling in her eyes—who knew she could feel so heartbroken a mere month before her wedding? Taking deep shaky breaths to calm herself, Sakura made her way back across the hall to find Naruto, and made a quick exit after saying goodbye. If he noticed her lack of composure, he mercifully didn't say anything.

* * *

Kakashi spent the day of Sakura's wedding alone in the land of Snow. After Sakura had left him at Naruto's inauguration, he knew he had lost her for good. He'd been invited to the wedding, of course, but he couldn't bear the thought of being there to witness it. It would have been too conspicuous if Kakashi had been in the village but not at the wedding, so he simply took a timely mission to spare them both.

The next time he saw her it was a couple months later. She stood in the market, frowning in front of a display of ripe red tomatoes. The wedding ring on her finger glinted brightly in the sun, and Kakashi turned away.

* * *

A/N: Don't hate me! I debated on how to end this one but just couldn't picture it ending happily. I'll be taking a break tomorrow (Thursday) as I couldn't get my head wrapped around the theme (Move AU), and the one idea I did have was going too take too much time/energy to write. So I'll be back with another post on Friday, and I promise that one will be nice and fluffy and happy!


	5. Walk of Shame (It Was Dark)

Walk of Shame

(It Was Dark)

* * *

According to Ino, Sakura's love life was…lacking. And that was putting it nicely. Ino's actual words were something along the line of "in worse shape than Sasuke's pride after being dragged back to Konoha."

Sakura disagreed. Her life was perfectly fine as it was, love or no, thank-you-very-much. She was too busy for dating; her responsibilities had increased with her most recent promotion at the hospital, and now that she was a Jonin she was given the opportunity to take many more mission as well. Then there were her friends to consider—she barely had enough free time to see most of them due to their own responsibilities and conflicting schedules. Naruto and Sasuke were engrossed in their ANBU duties, while Ino was busy balancing her own time between the hospital, the flower shop, and missions as well. And of course, they all still tried to find time to train as a team. In fact, the person that Sakura probably saw the most was Kakashi.

It was funny how their former Sensei seemed to be the least busy of all of them. He accepted missions but never seemed overly eager for them as Naruto and Sasuke were, and Kakashi had few other responsibilities within the village. As such, Sakura found that he tended to seek her out by default. Naruto and Sasuke were a bit much to handle at times, especially if they were in the same vicinity as each other. Sakura knew he spent time with his other friends—Gai, Genma, and Yamato, mostly—but he often complained affectionately that Genma got into too much trouble, Yamato didn't get into enough trouble, and Gai could only be handled if Kakashi hadn't already spent time that day with Naruto.

Sakura called him Goldilocks once, and he retaliated by calling her "Pinky" until she made him eggplant miso just to shut him up.

Her friendship with Kakashi was easy—he never required constant conversation and it seemed he mostly just wanted some company as he read _Icha Icha_ or took a meandering walk. He tended to show up at odd intervals, sometimes joining her on her lunch break at the café outside the hospital, sometimes dropping by her place for dinner, or even suggesting she take a long way home and walk with him after work.

So when Ino started dragging Sakura to a bar at least once or twice a week in the name of "finding Sakura a man," Sakura dragged Kakashi along, too. He had been a hard sell at first, but she promised him homemade eggplant miso at least once a week in return. He was so easy to coerce when it came to free food.

Ino complained at first, saying that no one would approach them if the Copy Ninja was at their table. But it wasn't long before Ino warmed up to Kakashi—in fact, Sakura found herself being assailed with Kakashi's praises even when she was alone with her.

"Come on," the blonde said one day as they took a break at the hospital. "You _have_ to believe he's handsome under that mask. I've seen him with his shirt off—it would just be unfair if a man that attractive didn't also have a gorgeous face."

Sakura shot her friend a confused look—since when had Ino seen Kakashi with his shirt off? Sakura was the only medic that he let near him anymore, unless he was unconscious. But besides that, since when had Ino decided Kakashi was attractive?

"Don't give me that look, Forehead. You're clearly blind. If you don't snatch him up, _I_ just might."

Ino sauntered away down the hallway, and Sakura could only gape at her.

She wouldn't dare make a pass at _Kakashi_ —would she? The man was fourteen years older than them, and had a reputation that made him seem out of their league anyway. Then again, Ino was… _Ino_. All flirty smiles and big breasts, and just enough bossiness to make a man beg and _like it_.

Kakashi was doomed.

* * *

The next bar night, Sakura sat alone on one side of the booth while Ino sidled up to Kakashi on the other.

"Kakashi- _sensei!"_ Ino sing-songed next to him.

Sakura was more pleased than she would like to admit when Kakashi simply looked at her with a bored expression, but Ino was not so easily deterred.

"You should take your headband off, Sensei. You look so much sexier without it."

Ino giggled as Sakura turned red from embarrassment.

"Sakura," Ino said with a leading tone that Sakura always associated with trouble. "Tell Kakashi he looks sexy without his headband."

" _What?_ No!" Sakura retorted, scandalized as Ino went and _ran her hand through Kakashi's hair._

Kakashi again gave no indication of what he thought of this exchange, sitting stock still in the booth. Sakura's one ray of hope was that he was slouched back into the corner— _away_ from the flirtatious blonde.

"So you disagree?" Ino pouted, knowing full well she was backing Sakura into a corner.

"Well—no—uh—"

"It's okay, Sakura—I'm sure Kakashi's used to women being speechless around him."

Sakura didn't know if she should be mortified or angry. She was…jealous? Why would she be jealous? No, that couldn't be it, no way. This was simply a betrayal on Ino's part—friends didn't just suddenly decide to put moves on their best friend's teammate. How could Ino _do_ this? How could she just come in here and turn on all her charm for Kakashi—the pervy, lazy, smart-ass—though his ass _was_ rather nice. And so were his abs. And his shoulders…and his back. Hell, even his _forearms_ were attractive.

Oh, fuck. Kakashi wasn't the one who was doomed…it was Sakura. She was jealous. It wasn't obvious to her until Ino started blathering on about the man but now Sakura couldn't _un-see_ it.

But, well, Sakura had already lost. Ino was seducing him just like she said she would, but Sakura couldn't let it get to her. Both of them were very important in her life and she couldn't cause a rift—even if she felt like she was the one being jilted here. Better to simply bow out gracefully.

She finished her drink as quickly as she could without being obvious about it, then left some money on the table and said goodnight.

* * *

Sakura's abrupt exit worried Kakashi slightly, but he had a more pressing concern to deal with first: the annoying blonde hanging on his arm.

Amusingly, that was probably the first time he'd thought of an annoying blonde and _not_ thought of Naruto.

Ino's attention had come out of nowhere. In fact he was pretty sure it was just a week or two ago that she'd given him a death glare just for showing up to the bar with Sakura. Which made her behavior very suspicious.

Genuine attraction was the first thing he ruled out. From observation he knew Ino went after young prettyboys or accepted their advances when they were bold enough to approach her; she had no reason to suddenly pursue an old, boring man like Kakashi. So his next thought was that Ino wanted something from him and was using her sexuality to lure and exploit him—a classic kunoichi trick, of course. But there was nothing that Kakashi could think of that would even warrant a scandal in Ino's eyes. All of the skeletons in his closet were pretty well known already. Perhaps the scandal would be if Kakashi took the bait? But, that wouldn't make sense, either—no one cared about Kakashi's sexual partners, and if he bedded anyone it was without caring if anyone else knew, anyway.

So that meant Ino was acting on someone else's behalf; it was the only other option. If someone else had put her up to it, though, Kakashi was pretty sure he would have noticed. The only other person here tonight was Sakura, and clearly _she_ wasn't pleased about Ino's behavior. Which meant she didn't know.

The pieces clicked into place rather quickly after that: Ino was trying to make Sakura jealous.

Why? He'd already ruled out the idea that Ino wanted Kakashi for herself, but Kakashi was having trouble discerning her motives from there.

Perhaps it was time to turn the tables on Ino.

Kakashi had extensive training in the art of interrogation. Most people just thought of this shinobi skill as something taboo, something only used in the underground depths of the ANBU headquarters in rooms that had drains in the floor. But most people failed to see the harmless, everyday uses such training could have.

With an exaggerated stretch, Kakashi looped one arm around Ino's waist and drew her closer.

 _Bingo_. She froze, which indicated her deception, but apparently it wouldn't be enough to get her to talk. She neither pushed him away nor made another move, so Kakashi pushed her a little more. He nuzzled his nose just slightly behind her ear, and used the low tone that women seemed to respond so well to.

"What do you say we get out of here?"

She broke easily.

"Uh—no thanks, Kakashi-sensei—sorry, I think, uh, you got the wrong impression…" she babbled as she artfully slid across the bench, out of his reach, and into the seat on the other side of the table.

Nothing really killed his mojo like being called _sensei_ , on top of everything else, but he waited patiently for Ino to elaborate. She was the kind who filled silences with chatter, unsure of what else to do in these situations. He would only have to wait a minute or so before she started talking.

Sure enough, Ino's bright red faced looked everywhere but at him for as long as she could stand the feel of his unwavering gaze. She looked back at him, blushed a little harder, and then steeled her nerves like the bossy woman Kakashi knew her to be.

"You're the last person I'd want to date," she stated bluntly and gaining confidence. "I was just trying to make Sakura jealous by flirting with you."

 _Ouch_. Amused, Kakashi placed a hand on his chest mockingly.

"You wound me. Weird seducing-me plan aside, I still have a fragile male ego, Ino."

She rolled her eyes at him, and Kakashi was glad to see her back to normal. Neither the obnoxious flirt nor the blushing schoolgirl really suited her.

"Kakashi, I want you, oh baby, oh baby," she deadpanned, then gave him an _are you happy now_ stare.

Kakashi snorted at her antics. She'd fit in well with Genma.

"Okay, so spill it. What's this about trying to make Sakura jealous by hanging all over me all night?"

Ino's face broke into a conniving grin, and Kakashi was wary of whatever would come out of her mouth next.

"You and Sakura are _perfect_ for each other, and I'm just trying to help you realize it."

Apparently the subtle approach was for Sakura, but Ino was quite happy to be blunt with Kakashi.

A small part of him had wondered if that's what this could be about, but he'd had no basis for it. Still, it was a bit surprising to hear it stated so frankly. He kept his expression and his body language neutral, intrigued but wary.

"Go on," he invited Ino.

She took the bait, happy that Kakashi hadn't immediately dismissed the idea.

"Well I noticed that you two have been spending a lot of time together recently. I thought maybe there was something budding between you, but it turned out I was wrong. And very disappointed. You see, you already have a lot in common, and both of you are reasonably attractive as well as prominent people in the village. You travel in the same circles, you're both close to the current and future Hokages so your social standing is equal, hell, even your fighting styles compliment each other. How could you ask for anything better in someone?"

Her explanation was succinct, but Kakashi couldn't deny its accuracy. Nothing she'd said was wrong. Still...this was _Sakura_. His former student, his teammate, his friend.

"I don't know, Ino…" he said as he scratched at the back of his head nervously.

She wasn't deterred, though, and just kept grinning at him knowingly.

"Just think about it, okay?" she said, rising from her seat and throwing some money on the table with Sakura's. "Do yourself a favor and don't shut something down just because your big genius brain didn't think of it first."

With a wink over her shoulder Ino left Kakashi sitting a little stunned in the booth by himself. After a minute he thought to count the money the girls had left behind and—ah, damn. They'd only left enough for their own drinks…and his wallet was at home.

"I know that look…" the waitress said, annoyed as she came to stand next to the table with hands on her hips. "You'd better know a dish-washing jutsu, Kakashi-san."

* * *

The next few days found Kakashi doing something he hadn't done in a long time—avoiding a girl. He figured Ino would have to sort things out with Sakura anyway, so it was best to give the girls some space, right?

In reality, Kakashi was simply avoiding his feelings by wandering the streets of Konoha.

Ino's blunt analysis of his relationship with Sakura —not that it was romantic, yet—had shaken him a little. It was a shocking revelation, but only on the surface. Once he started to really think about what Ino had said, it all rang true.

Sakura had somehow become one of his closest friends over the years—he ranked her right up their with Genma, Gai, and Yamato. She was his former student, yes, but Kakashi held her in higher personal esteem than Naruto, Sasuke, or Sai. Not that the boys weren't all respected shinobi, but Sakura seemed to resonate with Kakashi on a personal level. They fit into each other's lives in a way they didn't fit into the lives of their other friends.

Could there be something with Sakura worth exploring? But— _should_ he? What if it backfired and ruined the very same good friendship they already shared?

He needed help.

Fuck, he needed _Ino,_ because she was the only one who was already in the know regarding the situation.

A hand suddenly made an attempt at snatching _Icha Icha_ away from him, but the Copy Ninja had an innate sense of self-preservation when it came to his beloved books. With a practiced hand he snapped it shut and stowed it in his pack as he turned to see who had attempted the theft.

Ah, speak of the devil and she shall appear.

"Ino," he greeted casually, not breaking his stride as he wandered.

"Kakashi," she replied, "Why have you been avoiding Sakura?"

He let a guilty grimace slip onto his face—so Sakura had noticed, huh? Damn.

Ino noticed, and with a sigh delved right to the heart of the matter.

"Look, do you want to date Sakura or not? If you don't then fine; if you do then clearly you need help. But stop moping around the village."

He shot Ino a disgruntled look. "I know how to date, Ino."

"Oh yeah? Then name at least three girls you've taken on at least three dates."

"Ami, Junko, and Keiko," Kakashi reeled off without missing a beat.

Ino gave him a condescending pat on his arm. "Nice try, but those are all girls from your smutty books."

He had no other answer to give her, so instead he just gave her a lazy, blank stare.

"That's what I thought," she said smugly.

"Just because I haven't dated _a lot_ doesn't mean I don't know how," Kakashi defended himself.

She shook her head and set that same half-crazed grin on her face.

"That's not what I meant. Yes, you probably need at least a _little_ help with the romance, but the important thing is that you didn't say no."

That stopped Kakashi in his tracks. She was right; when faced with Ino's ultimatum he had merely defended his _ability_ to date Sakura instead of his _willingness_ to date Sakura. Because his willingness wasn't a question. He wanted to date Sakura, and Ino had led him right into her trap.

Fucking Yamanakas.

"You've been spending too much time with Ibiki," Kakashi complained.

"Says the man who worked me over in a bar the other night," she retorted.

He shrugged as he started walking again and reached into his pouch for his book. "Fair move, well played."

"Now, her favorite flowers are forget-me-nots, but they're hard to get this time of year so I suggest hydrangeas as a decent alternative…what you are doing?"

Kakashi glanced away from his book and back at Ino. They'd already solved his issue of what to do about Sakura, so what was she worried about?

"Uh…I'm probably going home now?"

She didn't seem to be satisfied with his answer.

"To do what? Read porn?"

"If I say yes are you going to try and confiscate my book again?"

By the way she hesitated, Kakashi suspected that had been Ino's exact plan, but she reconsidered and instead simply planted herself directly in his path on the narrow sidewalk with her arms crossed.

"No, you will not go home and hide for the rest of the day, Kakashi! I know for a fact that the rest of your team is meeting for drinks tonight and you _will_ be there! You _will_ pay for your own drinks and you _will_ buy at least one for Sakura!"

"But…Junko is just about to face off against the main villain, you see. It's very thrilling and I simply cannot do anything else until I finish—"

" _You have those damn books memorized!_ Now go to the bar and buy a drink for your girlfriend like a normal person!"

Kakashi tried not to let on how much he perked up at hearing Sakura referred to as his girlfriend, though she wasn't _yet_ , while Ino muttered under her breath.

"I swear you two are perfect for each other…why is it so hard to convince you guys to go out on a Saturday night and have a little fun…"

"Bossy woman…" Kakashi returned in the same low voice, knowing she would hear him.

"If you screw this up with Sakura, I will hurt you," Ino threatened with a wagging finger in his face, and a meaningful glance down to his pants.

He gulped. If there was one thing not to be trifled with, it was a jilted woman. If there were two things not to be trifled with, they were a jilted woman and her vindictive best friend.

"Message received. So, about those flowers…"

Ino gave him a satisfied look and preened as she looped her arm through his and turned him in the direction of the flower shop.

* * *

Ultimately Kakashi decided that flowers would be a bit much, considering they were meeting other friends and he hadn't actually established anything with Sakura yet. So, he simply showed up on time for once and made sure he took the seat next to Sakura. Ino sat on Sakura's other side though, clearly intent on keeping an eye on the situation.

True to his word, Kakashi bought a bottle of sake that he shared with Sakura. In addition to everything else, Sakura had learned from Tsunade how to drink. So when Ino started trying to tell Sakura that she "better slow down" and "might need to call it a night," Kakashi knew this was all a ruse. Clearly, Sakura was handling her alcohol just fine, and the barbs from Ino made Sakura favor conversation with Kakashi instead.

Ino was a genius.

"You know," Kakashi said offhandedly after Sakura shot Ino another dirty look, "If you just leave Ino will get off your back. I need a reason to escape, too. Want to walk with me?"

"Yes!" Sakura agreed immediately. The grateful look on her face made Kakashi feel like he'd just saved her from an evil villain, not her overbearing best friend. He tried not to let it go to his head.

They walked for a short while in the general direction of Sakura's home, but Kakashi never could work up the courage to steer the conversation in the direction that Ino wanted him to. How do you bring something like that up? "So, your friend thinks we're destined to be together and I think I like you" seemed a bit strong.

He could only assume Sakura was completely clueless about Ino's plan, because she seemed no different than any other night they'd walked together. Her hair took on an ethereal glow in the moonlight and her eyes became dark glittering gems. Her laugh carried in the darkness and his heart sped up when she grabbed his arm near the elbow in a familiar gesture.

Kakashi was doomed. He might as well start waxing lyrical like Genma did when drunk, or shouting his feelings from the rooftop like Gai when sober.

When they finally arrived at Sakura's door, it was just as anti-climactic. Kakashi waited just a few feet away while she unlocked her door, and then she said goodnight with a warm smile before heading inside. Once her door was closed again, Kakashi made his way back to his own place, kicking himself a little. Things with Sakura would work themselves out, but he was more annoyed that he'd have to face Ino's wrath.

* * *

The next day Sakura treated herself to a pleasant brunch at her favorite café, enjoying a lazy day off. It was no surprise when Ino plopped down in the seat across the table, and started picking at the pastry sitting on Sakura's plate.

"So…" Ino prompted in a leading tone, "How was your night last night?"

Huh?

"Well an annoying pig was acting a lot like my mother at the bar," Sakura deadpanned.

Ino unapologetically waved away Sakura's accusation. "No! I mean after that? How was your night with Kakashi?"

Sakura was still confused. Was there something she was missing?

"Uh, fine? He walked me home? It was dark?" Ino sat there staring at Sakura without saying anything, so Sakura continued, hoping to satisfy the blonde's need for chatter about inconsequential details. "I think the old lady that owns the dango shop is moving…looked like there were boxes outside her place. I'll be sad to see her go, she always gave me discounts—"

"Ugh, Sakura! I don't care about that!"

" _What,_ Pig? What else am I supposed to tell you about my night last night?" she finally burst, exasperated.

Ino's face fell in apparent disappointment, then Sakura recognized the face of an extremely perturbed Ino Yamanaka. Sakura hoped that _she_ wasn't the one who had incurred that wrath.

"Stupid man," Ino muttered before huffing and crossing her arms across her chest. "Okay, Forehead. Apparently you and Kakashi are the two most clueless blockheads ever. Kakashi has a thing for you, and he was supposed to seduce you last night, or at _least_ ask you out on a freaking date!"

… _What…?_

Sakura laughed. "I'm sorry, Pig, I thought you just said that _Kakashi_ was supposed to _seduce_ me. Good one, but I'm not falling for it."

Her laughter died quickly with the slam of Ino's palm on the table, earning them a glare from a couple on the other side of the patio.

"I'm not kidding, Forehead! I've been trying to play matchmaker with you guys all week but you're both so oblivious to your own feelings that you're making it extremely difficult. I knew Kakashi would require a more direct approach but I thought you, at least could pick up on my hints."

"What hints?" Sakura said defensively, trying to carry on a conversation while her brain struggled to process the idea of Kakashi Hatake being romantically interested in Sakura Haruno.

"Were you not paying attention to all the times I told you how _hot_ he is? I even _told you_ to go after him!"

"Pig! _You_ were flirting with him, why they hell was I supposed to think that meant you wanted _me_ to go after him?"

"I was only doing it to make you jealous so that you would make a damn move!"

Sakura snapped her mouth shut, not sure what else to say. Sure, she could be mad at Ino for acting like such a busybody, but her intentions had been good. But…Kakashi? And her? Together?

She could feel a faint blush on her cheeks as she started to picture it—and it wasn't difficult to do so. The foundation for a relationship was already there. How would dating Kakashi be any different than how they already were together? Except they would kiss…and do other things.

Her face grew hot as her brain jumped to a scene from Kakashi's _Icha Icha_ books, but the characters suddenly had pink and silver hair.

"I have to go!" Sakura yelped as she hurriedly stood up.

Ino merely grinned and waved her fingers at Sakura before helping herself to the last of the pastry.

Sakura forced herself to breathe normally as she headed for the training fields. An impromptu workout would be just the thing to clear her head.

Ino would have no reason to lie to her, Sakura reasoned. Ino might be a conniving bitch sometimes, but she would never do something that would cause Sakura to embarrass herself to this degree. So, Sakura had to assume that Ino was telling the truth about Kakashi.

Kakashi had feelings for her. How did Sakura feel about that?

There was no denying the little thrill in her stomach at the thought, and then Sakura remembered that Ino's initial tactic had partially worked. Sakura had been quite jealous when Ino was flirting with Kakashi, to the point where she'd decided to leave rather than continue to watch the evening unfold.

Well, that settled it, then, she realized with a grin. She wanted to date Kakashi, too.

The idea of being in a relationship with Kakashi made her giddy, but she tried not to get ahead of herself—she hadn't even talked to him yet and there was always the chance that there had been some huge miscommunication somewhere. She continued to beat a training post in a series of taijutsu drills, trying to concentrate on her form but ultimately losing the battle as her thoughts strayed to Kakashi and she couldn't keep that stupid grin off her face.

She gave up and decided to head home to take a shower before she ran into Kakashi; something about being clean and well groomed when being approached by a man who had feelings for you seemed important.

However, luck was clearly not on her side. Just as Sakura was leaving the training grounds Kakashi appeared, meeting her at the gated entrance. She blushed again, and looked away embarrassed. He would know that she knew. But that was good, right?

"Sakura." He said gently, prompting her to look up. As she did, he held out a single forget-me-not. Her eyes went wide as he tucked it behind her ear, smoothing his hand through her hair.

She felt some tension leave her body at his gesture; it was sweet and comforting at the same time. Her heart swelled—that was what Kakashi was to her, in a nutshell. Sweet and comforting. He didn't care if she was dirty or sweaty, he'd seen her like that thousands of times.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" he asked with an eye-crinkle.

She could only beam at him as she took his arm and they walked back in the direction of her house.

* * *

The next morning as he left Sakura's house, Ino was walking towards the flower shop when she spotted Kakashi. He'd thought that since he wore the same clothes pretty much every day it wouldn't be noticeable that he hadn't been home, but Ino must have had some sort of sixth sense about this kind of thing.

"Finally!" she shouted with a glance up towards the sky in apparent thanks.

Kakashi merely saluted her lazily as he ambled down the street, grinning under his mask.

* * *

A/N: See? Happy ending! One more short and sweet one tomorrow to wrap up KakaSaku Week, though I'm sure I'll add to this collections of one shots over time.


	6. Warmth (And Love)

Warmth

(And Love)

* * *

Kakashi woke up for the fifth time that night and turned over in Sakura's bed, trying to get comfortable. He flipped the pillow again and tried laying on each side, to no avail. Finally with a frustrated grunt he flopped onto his back and threw the blankets off, irritated.

Not at Sakura, of course. She'd been nothing but wonderful and sexy for the entire month that they'd been sleeping together. (And also spent a good amount of time _not-sleeping_ together.) The problem was just Sakura's bed—it was barely big enough for the two of them and Kakashi missed his large, comfy mattress. He enjoyed his creature comforts and though his place wasn't exactly luxurious, Sakura didn't have the years of A- and S-ranked missions under her belt like Kakashi to afford a better apartment. They ended up at her place when she had to work early the next day, which was fine, but right now it was too hot and the moon was shining right into his eyes and he couldn't sleep.

With an exasperated sigh Kakashi got up and closed the stupid curtains, then headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. The cool drink and the cooler air outside of the bedroom—where there wasn't body heat—helped. He wandered over to the thermostat, but frowned when he looked at the dial. It was set to a cool enough temperature, and the apartment _should_ have been much more comfortable that it was, but apparently Sakura's air conditioning was broken. Just fucking great.

Resigning himself to a sleepless night, Kakashi drained the last of the water before heading back into Sakura's bedroom. He threw open the curtains again and opened the window, grateful at least that it wasn't raining. Maybe if he faced the other way with the pillow over his head, he could manage to get some shut-eye. Sakura seemed to be managing to sleep just fine, and Kakashi felt a small amount of jealousy as he climbed back into bed beside her.

 _We're definitely moving into my place, not hers,_ Kakashi thought to himself, then froze.

Normally this was the point in a relationship where Kakashi would bolt—right now, before she woke up—and then he would ignore her for a couple of months until she got over him. But before he could get his body to move, something made him pause. He lay there watching Sakura sleep for a few minutes, and realized he didn't want to leave. He wanted to sleep next to Sakura every night for a long, long time.

Fucking hell, he was in love with her.

A smile spread across his bare face and Kakashi curled his body around Sakura's, grinning as she murmured and sighed in her sleep. The hard mattress and the blinding moonlight and the broken air conditioning no longer mattered. His arm circled her waist and he pulled her closer, nuzzling her hair. He no longer cared about the heat of the night; he could sleep peacefully now. It was amazing how a simple revelation could change his perspective on the situation. He finally felt relaxed enough that sleep was blurring his vision and his eyes were once again heavy. They would sleep now, but when Sakura woke up Kakashi would show her all the ways he loved her.

* * *

A/N: I know this is super short compared to the others-sorry! I hope you enjoyed them, though, and thank you for reading! I'm sure I'll add more to this collection over time so please keep following. :)


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